As Rose Petals Fall
by TheNotoriousNovelist
Summary: AU: Zatanna was once a tennis star until a broken knee revealed she had stage II osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Over a year later, she goes to Gotham for better treatment only to meet Dick Grayson, a boy with glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors! With 7 months to live, Dick teaches her to enjoy life while she can and she teaches him to let his true feelings out. Pairing: Chalant.
1. Prologue: Diagnosis

**Let's get one thing straight! I'm not an expert on cancer or brain tumors. I do not intend to make fun of anyone suffering from these conditions. This fanfic is inspired by an episode of Saving Hope that featured an ill teenaged couple.**

**I've done a crap load of research on these conditions (mostly on Wikipedia) and I'll try to be as accurate as possible. If anything's incorrect then I apologize.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Prologue:

Diagnosis

**Zatanna's P.O.V**

I used to be thought of as invincible... Zatanna Zatara; Olympic level tennis player by the age of 15! No one thought I could be stopped on my climb to the top... but I was. I was a member of the Italian tennis team and was playing against America when it happened. I made a dive to stop the ball from going out of bounds when I started feeling excruciating pain in my knee. The match was called off when I was taken to hospital. My tennis couch/manager kept going on at the doctors about how I needed to be able to play for the rematch next week. I mentioned often feeling fatigued even before a work-out and my joints aching. They did an X-Ray of me and that's when they found it... or, rather, them!

Bone tumors... at least three around the knee I'd just broken and possibly more.

They did an operation to take a slice of bone to do a biopsy on and that's when we found out. The whole time we waited for the biopsy results, my father never left my side. I could tell he was trying his best to be brave for me but I knew he was just as scared as I was.

Then the results came back and we found out...

I had inherited Li–Fraumeni syndrome, most likely from my mother. And now I had the exact thing that killed Mom when I was only 5; Osteosarcoma, stage 2. In other words...

Bone cancer.

I went from an invincible tennis star to being frail... like glass. I felt like my life was over and I wasn't far off when the doctors told me people with Osteosarcoma usually died within two years if it isn't cured. My father broke down at the news and said he was thankful my mother wasn't alive today to learn she'd past down a deadly disease to the daughter she loved so much.

I considered just letting the cancer take me but I was a fighter. I'd fight to the very end! I didn't want to leave Dad all alone in the world and, when it came down to it, I wanted to live! I'd fight... until there was no more fight in me.

* * *

**Dick's P.O.V**

I'd always been a bit of a scatter brain. I'd often forget things I said only 5 seconds ago. Even so, I was one of the most intelligent teenagers in the country (possibly the world). I was getting awards and prizes in math and my acrobatic abilities were unmatched! In a way, I was unstoppable. Then I was stopped. I was in the final round of a mathematics contest and I was the youngest competitor. I'd been experiencing fits of nausa and short-term memory loss but it was chalked up to nerves.

Then it happened...

My hand suddenly couldn't hold my pen and I collapsed. I don't remember the exact events but my adoptive father later told me I had jerked around on the floor and they called an ambulance. They confirmed I had had a seizure. I apparently kicked my heels into the floor so hard I broke my ankle.

When I told them of my short-term memory loss and nausa, they asked about headaches. I'd been having major headaches but I had been taking aspirin for them. I was taken in for a brain scan and they found it...

A brain tumor.

I was taken into surgery to have it removed, which was successful and I returned to my life. But when I was 15, the symptoms returned and I was taken in for another scan...

This time there was two.

My adoptive father paid for the best treatment but I still wasn't given long to live. Even so, I'm determined to live my life to the fullest... while I still can.

* * *

** This has a more serious tone to my usual fanfics but I hope you still like!**


	2. Chapter 1: Two Frail Flowers

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 1:

Two Frail Flowers

_...Over a year later..._

Zatanna, now 16-years-old, sat in her wheelchair in Dr. Leslie Thompson's radiotherapy clinic in Gotham City. Since being diagnosed, her father, Giovanni Zatara, had decided moving to America was best for her treatments. That didn't stop Zatanna from being bored as she waited for her monthly radiotherapy treatment. She was also having chemotherapy that was being administered to her by an IV drip in her arm. She looked to the pile of magazines on the table beside her and weakly searched through them. Then a painful reminder appeared. One of the magazines was a sports tabloid with a cover image of Zatanna in her tennis prime.

"Zatanna," Giovanni whispered to her, his Italian accent still thick "Don't. You know they only make you upset,"

Zatanna sighed and sat back in her chair. She looked around at the other waiting patients. She wished she wasn't so superficial about her hair or lack of it. Zatanna constantly either wore a wig or a beanie to cover her bald head. Right now, out in public, she wore both. The doors opened and a boy her age came out with a man in his thirties. The boy wore a black t-shirt under a unbuttoned red checkered shirt, black jeans and a black beanie. He pushed alongside himself an IV drip that was probably administering chemo to him. The man with him wore a suit and tie with slicked back hair. He looked like a business man.

"Well, that was a waste of time," the boy complained "The radiotherapy ain't working, the chemo ain't working and surgery's too dangerous. Can we please go to the movies now?"

The man with him looked at him with concern.

"Dick, you know that's dangerous for you," he said "What if you have a seizure or worse?"

The boy, Dick, grumbled to himself when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I gotta use the john, can I do _that_ on my own, Bruce?" he asked, sarcastically.

The man, Bruce, nodded at him and Dick began heading to the bathroom. That's when Zatanna was called in for treatment. As she wheeled herself towards the double doors, her IV and Dick's IV collided. There was a clang as the IV's hit the floor and Dick tripped over the mess.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?" Zatanna exclaimed and leaned out of her wheelchair to look at him.

Bruce was by his side in a second and gave him a hand up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Dick, picking up the two IV's "I'm a klutz so it was probably my fault,"

Bruce untangled the IV bags and got them separated. Dick pulled his long sleeve up his arm and checked the multiple tubes in his arm to make sure they hadn't come lose. Seeing his IV in perfect working condition, he moved his sleeve back down his arm and he looked at Zatanna in concern.

"Are you okay? Is your IV okay?" Dick asked, worry on his face "I know how tedious travelling with an IV can be,"

Zatanna looked down at the sleeve of her fleece and pulled it up to see the IV tubes still perfectly in place.

"I'm fine," she said, quietly.

"Good. Well, that incident didn't stop me from needing to go to the bathroom so..." Dick said "See ya. Tell Leslie you know Dick Grayson and she'll play music during your treatment,"

Zatanna nodded, bewildered, as her father pushed her towards the double doors. She looked behind her as Dick headed to the bathroom while Bruce seemed to be _flirting _ with the secretary (whose nametag read "Selina Kyle-Wayne"). Zatanna turned back around to face forwards as she and Giovanni passed through the duel doors.

* * *

Zatanna felt drained after the radiotherapy treatment was over and a wave of fatigue passed over her. What Dick had said about telling Dr. Thompson about knowing him was true. She had played music during the treatment and that brought Zatanna some joy. For the time being, she was staying at the Gotham City Cancer Center. Giovanni was staying in a cheap motel nearby and was working as much as possible to pay for Zatanna's treatments. They were on a waiting list for a bed in the higher quality St. Agnes Memorial Hospital but the likelihood wasn't in their favour.

"You want to go to the cinema and see what's on?" Giovanni asked his daughter but she didn't respond.

Zatanna scratched under her beanie and straightened her wig by tugging the ends of the fake hair. She looked down at the ground before her as her father pushed her along the busy sidewalk. She sat back and dropped her head in front of her. Giovanni patted her head like he used to and his daughter looked up at him. Zatanna gave him a smile before turning back around and slumping down. She shivered and pulled a blanket out of her satchel to wrap around herself. Her satchel was very precious to her. It was initially plain brown from a craft shop her mother had taken her when she was 4. Over the past 12 years since acquiring the bag, Zatanna had decorated it with fabric paint, beads and more.

"Dad... can I... uh... never mind..." she stammered.

"What, darling?" Giovanni asked, looking down at her.

"I was... hoping to see the Gotham City Botanical Gardens," Zatanna said "I read online that they're the best place in Gotham,"

Giovanni looked down at her and thought about it. It was a beautiful July day and the Sun was out rather than Gotham's usual rain. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea and he didn't have to get Zatanna back to the Center until 4 p.m. while it was currently 11 in the morning.

"Alright, Zatanna, let's go!" Giovanni declared.

Zatanna couldn't help but let out a huge smile as her father stopped outside a bus stop to take a bus across town.


	3. Chapter 2: A Place to Heal and Grow

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 2:

A Place to Heal and Grow

Dick sat up on his hospital bed playing computer games while listening to music on his laptop. He was a residential patient so there was always a doctor in case he had a seizure. His chemotherapy treatment was yet to begin for the day so he was taking the opportunity to use both hands without any problems.

"Mr. Grayson?" a nurse asked as she stuck her head through the door "Mr. Grayson?!" she repeated, raising her voice.

Dick looked up and pulled his headphones off.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"It's time for some examinations, please come with me," the nurse asked.

Dick shut down his computer and got to his feet. He pulled his converse sneakers on and followed her out. The pristine halls had the usual lyno flooring with metal railings along the walls. The walls were creamy white with navy boarders. The nurses wore light blue scrubs and the doctors wore navy.

"So... are these the usual tests? My eye sight, breathing, etc?" Dick asked.

"As far as I know," the nurse said.

* * *

Shortly after the usual tests, IV drips for both chemotherapy and anticonvulsant were inserted into his arm and he was allowed to return to his room. He decided to wander the halls a bit before going back and he pulled his IV around with him. Dick often made his doctors worry by disappearing into the halls of St. Agnes' but he was easily found. He found himself in the entrance of the hospital that had navy blue carpeting and pale blue walls. The cafeteria was there as well as a gift shop. Wanting to escape the hospital's routine three square meals a day, Dick went over to the cafeteria and got himself a slice of cheese cake. He gave the cashier his patient card that gave him a discount and added the charge to his hospital bill.

Dick sat on a bar stool by the counter as he took bites of his dessert, his IV standing beside him. When he finished, he tossed the plastic cutlery away before heading in the direction of his room.

"Hey, it's you!"

Dick turned to see the girl whose IV he had tripped over the day before. A main difference today was that she only wore a beanie rather than having a wig underneath. He turned to her and smiled.

"Nice to see you again, I hope Leslie treated you well," he said "I'm Dick, Dick Grayson," and he extended his hand to her.

"I know that," the girl laughed, taking his hand "I'm Zatanna Zatara. I didn't know you were being treated here,"

"I'm residential. How 'bout you?" Dick asked.

"I was being treated in New York but I've come here to see about changing hospitals. So, how's the cancer ward here?" Zatanna asked, wheeling closer to him.

"Pretty good but I don't have cancer so I don't know from personal experience," he said "I'll give you a tour of the place if you want. This place is pretty big,"

The two of them began in the direction of the cancer ward. Giovanni followed behind them and felt overly protective of his daughter. At least Zatanna was socializing with someone. Dick suddenly dropped to the floor and began flailing about.

"Dick!" Zatanna shrieked.

Being in a hospital, doctors rushed to his side and recognized he was having a seizure. Giovanni pulled Zatanna away from it all as they watched Dick jerk around.

"He's not breathing!" one doctor exclaimed.

Dick's face turned a dusky blue from a lack of oxygen but, after 30 seconds, he took in a short breath before haulting his breathing again. A stretcher was pulled up and Dick was lifted onto it. Zatanna watched as he was wheeled away to be treated and her heart sunk. Despite first encountering Dick at a radiotherapy clinic, she hadn't realized Dick must have been ill too. But with what? He already stated he didn't have cancer.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Zatanna was constantly worried for Dick. Every time she asked about him, the staff went silent and acted as if she hadn't spoken. This gave her the worrying thought that he had passed away. In the end, Zatanna was given a place in St. Agnes Memorial Hospital because the person before her had gone home. A nurse with long black hair tended to her as she prepared for bed.

"Umm... Nurse Prince?" Zatanna called from her bathroom.

"Call me Diana," the nurse called back as she prepared the bed.

"This morning... I encountered a boy I'd met in radiotherapy at Dr. Thompson's clinic..." Zatanna said as she warily pulled her beanie off and made sure her wig was in perfect condition "He... had a seizure and I was wondering what happened to him,"

Diana turned to her patient when she rolled into the room. She lifted Zatanna from her wheelchair and helped her into bed.

"What's his name?" she asked as she helped tuck her in.

"Dick Grayson," Zatanna said, happy to be getting somewhere.

Diana's face fell and she neatly placed herself on the edge of the bed. She took her glasses off and wiped the lenses with her apron.

"Dick... he's been here since he was 15 and diagnosed with a brain tumor. If you met him at Leslie's clinic well... that's to help with the fact he had a previous tumor," Diana explained "He's since developed two new ones and he suffers from constant seizures and memory lapses,"

"I thought you weren't allowed to talk about other patients?" Zatanna asked.

"I'm an old family friend. I assume no one else would tell you about him?" Diana asked and she nodded "That's because his father, Bruce Wayne, finances this place and runs a multimillion dollar company. People don't talk about it to avoid revealing his condition to the media,"

Zatanna was effectively shocked to learn of this. He was rich? Filthy stinking rich? What she didn't get was why everyone kept calling Doctor Thompson by her first name: Leslie. Diana said goodnight to Zatanna before leaving her to get some sleep. Zatanna lay back and closed her eyes, trying to snuggle down. She felt the urge to find Dick and find out how he was doing. She wasn't very good at getting out of bed and into her wheelchair by herself so she was forced to wait 'til the morning.


	4. Chapter 3: Companionship

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 3:

Companionship

The next morning, Dick was sitting up in bed and eating the breakfast his nurse had brought him. He wasn't too thrilled by the taste but, as an old friend of his often said, food is food. He just wished he could have Alfred's pancakes rather than hospital oatmeal (he never did like oatmeal). Dick was just about done with his meal when there was a knock on the door.

"C'min!" he called.

The door was opened by his visitor with struggle and was pushed open to make room for the wheelchair. Zatanna came rolling in with her wig covering her head.

"Um... hello," she said.

"Hey, it's you," said Dick, smiling "You staying here now?"

"Yeah, I am," said Zatanna "I came 'cause, well, I saw your seizure yesterday so I was wondering if you were okay,"

Dick smiled at her. Everyone around him had gotten used to his seizures and knew he was okay afterwards but this girl was like a breath of fresh air.

"Yeah, I am. It stopped after a few minutes and I spent the rest of the day sleeping it off," he said, sitting up "I've got brain tumors, you see? They mess with my electrical pathways so I have seizures,"

Zatanna nodded and a blush appeared on her face when she realized there was nothing else to talk about.

"Well... I've got to go to physical therapy," she said "If I can find it... so, I'll see you later?"

Dick found himself muffling a laugh at her awkwardness.

"I can show you the way if you want," he offered "I know this place like the back of my hand,"

Zatanna's blush deepened at the thought of spending more time with him but she did need a guide. She nodded and Dick got out of bed to throw some clothes on.

* * *

She waited outside of his room as he got dressed but he came out in a minute wearing a baggy white t-shirt that hung on his lean frame and some jogging bottoms. He offered to push her and Zatanna wasn't about to say no. As Dick lead her through the hospital, multiple staff members said hello and he said hello back as well as calling them by name. It was a wonder he remembered them all...

"So, how was your first night here?" Dick asked her.

"It was alright," said Zatanna "My nurse said you- uhh..."

"Ha! Your nurse told you about me, eh?" he said with a laugh "It's okay and it's true, my dad does finance this place. And yes, I am filthy stinking rich,"

They came to an elevator and he pressed the button for the ground floor. The doors opened and Dick pushed her in. Zatanna looked up at him and saw a scar creeping out from under his beanie. She remembered how Diana had said he had had a previous tumor surgically removed. Dick seemed to have caught her gaze and pulled his hat down further to hide his scar.

"So... how were... you like... uh... before... um..." Zatanna stammered, looking for a conversation topic.

"-before I was diagnosed? I was a mathematician slash acrobat," said Dick, looking around the elevator "You?"

"Oh... uh... no one," Zatanna stammered.

She hated it when her past came back to haunt her. She remembered once when she was recognized by a fan and felt helpless to escape the questions and accusations. Zatanna was jolted back to reality as Dick pushed her out of the elevator and in the direction of the physical therapy center. She pulled her pale fleece around her as the A.C. chilled her to the bone.

"We're nearly there, Miss Zatara," Dick said in a jokingly formal tone.

Zatanna smiled at him.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Grayson," she replied.

The two laughed when she saw a sign above a set of double doors that read: **PHYSICAL THERAPY**. She needed physical therapy to make sure her leg muscles remained strong enough in the event her weak bones were strengthened enough to support her. Zatanna sat back with a huff when Dick pushed her through the doors.

* * *

Diana was waiting for them in the physical therapy room. In had a dark blue carpeted floor and creamy yellow walls with inspirational posters on them. There were some gym equipment on a half of the room with wooden flooring. One wall was covered in mirrors while two others were nothing but windows that showed the hospital fountain.

"Hello, Zatanna. Hello, Richard," greeted Diana.

"Hey, Di. Haven't seen you for a while. How was that bonus training course?" Dick asked, pleasantly.

Diana rolled her eyes. Next to her stood a woman with red hair that waved down to her shoulder blades. She wore the regulation navy blue scrubs of a doctor and a doctor's coat. Dick recognized her as the doctor who lead exercise sessions for the more capable patients.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Shayera Hol," she said, looking down at her clipboard "You can call me Shayera if you'd like,"

Zatanna sat before the medical professionals with Dick still holding the handles of her chair. Diana was acting as the P.T.A (Physical Therapy Assistant) for the time being and helped Dr. Hol lay Zatanna down on a mat on the floor. Since Dick didn't have a treatment for a while, he stuck around to keep her company.

"So... how's it going?" he asked her, sitting cross-legged beside her.

"Are you serious?" Zatanna asked her, skeptically.

"Nope, I'm ridiculous," Dick responded "And you are?"

Zatanna snickered but gasped as Dr. Hol bent her knee to keep her muscles alive. A few other patients and physical therapists arrived for treatment as Zatanna's treatment continued. At one point, Dick even threatened to tickle her until she squealed just to keep her cheery. That's when she realized it... she hadn't smiled this much since she was diagnosed and it was all thanks to the ridiculousness of Dick Grayson. She felt a buzz in her fleece pocket and Dick pulled her cellphone out for her.

"You're getting a call from a 'April Williams', who's that?" he asked her, showing her the caller I.D.

Zatanna's eyes shot open at the name of her former couch/manager from her past career. She grabbed her phone and pressed ignore to the call. She hated any reminder of her tennis career and she hated that April still occasionally called. It wasn't out of concern that April called; she always asked the same thing "When can you return to play?" and Zatanna hated it. Didn't she get that her star player had retired because she had freaking _bone cancer_?!

"She's someone I'd rather forget..." Zatanna said, her cellphone still in her hand as she covered her face with her arms.


	5. Chapter 4: Friendship

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 4:

Friendship

After the physical therapy session, Dick and Diana took Zatanna to the cafeteria for an early lunch. It was 11 a.m. and visiting hours were beginning. Zatanna knew her father would be arriving and Dick knew the same rang true for his own father.

"So, you picked up your Patient Card yet?" Dick asked as he ate a sandwich.

"My what?" Zatanna asked.

"It's a card that proves you're a residential patient here at St. Agnes. It gives you a discount at the cafeteria and gift shop," said Diana, watching over the two teenagers.

"Oh," said Zatanna, nodding "Well... I haven't got one,"

Dick explained the process of getting one to her then showed her his. The white card was about the size of a credit card with the details written in black and the hospital's signature blue in a wave over the top and bottom right corner. Zatanna looked it over then passed it back to him. She began eating the ice-cream that Dick had used his card to get a discount.

"Dick!"

"Zatanna!"

They turned to see their respective fathers coming their way and Zatanna smiled.

"Dad!" she exclaimed.

Giovanni leaned down and hugged her. Bruce came up to Dick and he put a strong hand on his son's narrow shoulder. Zatanna thought about how they could be related. Yes, they both had black hair but Bruce had jet-black hair while Dick had raven and Bruce's eyes were *brown while Dick's were a beautiful dark blue. It was possible Dick took after his mother but they didn't look even remotely alike. Then there was their surnames, Wayne and Grayson. Why?

"Zatanna, this is my adoptive father, Bruce Wayne," said Dick, gesturing to the man in the suit "Bruce, this is a new friend of mine, Zatanna Zatara,"

"I-It's a pl-pleasure t-to meet you..." Zatanna stammered, knowing the man's importance.

"Polite girl. It's wonderful to meet you too, Miss Zatara," Bruce introduced himself "I believe I untangled your IV from my son's a few days ago?"

"Yep, that was Zatanna," said Dick, sitting back in his chair "What a first encounter!"

Everyone found themselves smiling from his contagious joy. Zatanna realized Dick said he was adopted so that answered her previous questions.

"This is my father, Giovanni Zatara," said Zatanna, looking up at him.

"John to my friends," said Giovanni, shaking Bruce's hand.

"You know, I was going to take Dick out for the day. You're welcome to come," said Bruce "A carnival's in town and today's its last day,"

Giovanni looked down at Zatanna and, for once, she felt like having fun. She nodded and they looked to Diana, who said she'd go get them permission. It didn't take long because no staff wanted to anger Bruce Wayne, the guy who paid for the whole place.

* * *

Zatanna hadn't had to seriously consider what she wore for a while but, for some reason, she felt like she needed to put some thought into her outfit. She felt that she needed to keep her pale green fleece on at all times so she changed her plain t-shirt for a grey one with a heart print on the front. Zatanna also pulled on some well-fitted jeans and zipped up a pair of brown with her jeans tucked in. Sadly, she looked into her mirror then looked at her wig. She put it on over her bald head and pulled her beanie on to keep it there. She really wished she wasn't so superficial...

"Come along, Zatanna," said Diana from outside her bathroom door "The hospital said you may go as long as I accompany you,"

Zatanna took a deep breath and rolled out of her bathroom. Diana helped attach her IV to a clip on the side of the wheelchair before noticing Zatanna's displeased look at her wig. As a treat, Diana pulled her beanie off and began plaiting the artificial hair.

"There," said the nurse when she finished "and let's swap the beanie for a baseball cap today. It'll look better with your braid,"

Diana threaded the plait through the back of the baseball cap and finally decided Zatanna was ready. She could tell the former tennis star wanted to look as nice as possible for reasons she wasn't sure of.

* * *

The carnival was big and even included a rollercoaster. Dick was all too familiar with this sort of thing while Zatanna found it mesmerizing. They were just glad they had IV's with mini off-road wheels (an idea Dick came up with) because the carnival was set up in the middle of Gotham City Central Park.

"This place is awesome!" Zatanna said, looking around.

"Just be careful, Zatanna, I don't think you should go on any of these rides," warned Giovanni.

"Relax, Mr. Zatara," said Dick "We're just doing some of the games and check out the performers,"

Zatanna gave her father a look and the group continued in the direction of some games. She looked around at all the lights and decorations. Dick saw the look of awe in her eyes and he smiled. Zatanna didn't know what she wanted to do first.

"Hey, how about we go to the arcade? I'll teach you to play air hockey," Dick offered.

"A'right, teach me," said Zatanna, smiling at him.

The group headed towards the arcade where they encountered the obstacle of lifting Zatanna's wheelchair over the step. Dick, having an IV in his arm, couldn't help lift her but jokingly cheered them on.

* * *

As they walked into the arcade, Dick just ran forward with the sound of his IV rattling. He looked for the air hockey table since it was his favourite arcade game. He didn't notice but Zatanna noticed how people would turn their heads at the sound of his IV... and stared. She couldn't believe he was so oblivious to all the strange looks but maybe he was just ignoring it; she envied that.

"Hey! I found one!" Dick called, sticking his head round the corner "Hurry up before I run out of my anti-seizure medicine!" he complained.

Bruce rolled his eyes as they got closer. Zatanna began feeling like an extra wheel so rolled herself out of Diana's grip and went after Dick. One thing she needed was a more practical wheelchair but her family couldn't afford one. She turned the corner and saw Dick leaning against the air hockey table.

"So_ this _is air hockey. I've never played," Zatanna said, rolling over to him and slightly bumping into the table.

"It's easy, I'll teach ya!" Dick said, smiling as he ran to the other side of the table.

Zatanna noted he seemed a bit too excited. How long had it been since he last played himself? Dick put a coin in the machine and the air began blowing out of the table. Zatanna put her hand over it and felt the breeze.

"Pick up a paddle!" Dick said.

She looked up to see him holding a red paddle in his hand. Zatanna looked around and saw a paddle in the corner next to her. She pulled it up and inspected it.

"Now what?" she asked, looking over at Dick.

"We use our paddles to try to hit the puck into each other's goals," he said and placed a black disk on the table.

The disk hovered and he gave it a tap so it slowly skidded across the top to her. Zatanna picked it up and gave it a look before putting it back down.

"You're standing. That's unfair on me," she pointed out.

"A'right, then. I'll crouch down," said Dick and he got on his knees "Hey, now you're taller,"

Zatanna laughed and they began playing. It took her a few tries but she successfully managed to figure out the game and even managed to beat Dick. The two of them enjoyed themselves for the rest of the day until they had to be returned to hospital. Even so, Dick and Zatanna became friends...

* * *

***In most media, Bruce Wayne has blue eyes but, in Young Justice, he has brown. Don't ask me why, ask the animators!**


	6. Chapter 5: Ssh!

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 5:

Ssh!

Dick and Zatanna continued to hang out for the rest of the day with Zatanna being there for him when another seizure hit. As he slept after it stopped, she even asked about what to do when it occurred. For a special treat, the hospital set up a big screen in the patient's lounge as a movie night. After a day at the carnival, Zatanna wasn't feeling up to it and Dick's doctors told him to stay in bed to rest. This upset Dick and Zatanna felt sorry for him. For the sake of making her new friend feel better, she forced herself out of bed and into her wheelchair. Then she went through the quiet halls of the residential ward and found her way to Dick's room.

Dick wasn't asleep despite experiencing a fit of fatigue and exhaustion after his seizure. It was what he hated most about seizures; the lost time he'd never get back. He hated being ill and was just glad his biological father wasn't there to see the result of the mutated genes he passed down to his son. As Dick was killing time by finishing a trigonometry assignment he got from his online school (even geniuses needed to study), there was a quiet knock on the door. He got out of bed and crept across the cold floors; through the door window, he saw Zatanna.

"Zatanna?" he quietly exclaimed, opening the door "What are you doing here? It was lights out for those not watching the movie half an hour ago,"

"I just thought..." she whispered "I know you were disappointed about missing the movie so I brought you this,"

Dick looked down at what she presented to him. It was a copy of a Studio Ghibli film called Spirited Away. He smiled. It was one of his favourite films but he noticed it was in Italian.

"Good thing I speak Italian and Japanese," he said "No English or Romanian dub?" and he smiled at her.

"How many languages do you speak?" Zatanna asked, surprised.

"Um... Romanian, my native tongue," Dick said as he began counting them on his fingers "English, Italian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Swedish... my Egyptian is rusty and I was studying Chinese dialects when I was diagnosed,"

Zatanna looked at him in mock horror.

"What_ don't _you speak?" she asked, blinking her blue eyes.

"I just said, Chinese," Dick answered "But I haven't studied Indian or Portuguese or the many languages of Africa... Oh, and I can speak in Binary Code,"

"...I thought it was hard learning English," Zatanna said "Then again, April was breathing down my neck to perfect my American accent to-"

She stopped herself and began smiling sheepishly.

"I'm not allowed to have girls in my room without adult supervision or past 10 o'clock," Dick added.

"Oh! Uh... I just, um, I..." Zatanna stammered with a blush on her cheeks "I just... wanted to... see if... if I could cheer you up..."

Dick found himself muffling laughter until he couldn't hold it in anymore. He found himself cackling hysterically and he fell against the door frame. He slid down to the floor as he laughed his head off.

"Ssh!" Zatanna hissed as she looked about.

Dick couldn't stop laughing so she worriedly covered his mouth with her hand to shut him up. He swallowed his laughter and moved her hand off his mouth.

"Sorry, heheh, it's just, ha, funny..." he said "I'm... uhh... thanks, Zee, this is awesome. At the least it'll help me test my language skills,"

Zatanna nodded and they said their goodbyes as she wheeled away. It wasn't until she was tucked up in bed again that she realized he had called her "Zee" and, for some reason, that made her blush.

* * *

**"She cute?"**

Dick was sat up in bed the next morning and was video chatting with an old friend on his laptop. His old friend was 18 and lived in Central City in another part of the country.

"Shut-up, Wally," Dick said "But... uh... yeah, actually, she is pretty cute,"

**"Oooh! Dick and Zatanna sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the... uh... What was the rest of that song?" **Wally asked after taunting his best friend.

"I dunno and ssh! Don't go around saying stuff like that!" Dick complained.

He looked around as if Zatanna was going to appear out of nowhere. Wally snickered at his friend's reaction.

**"Dick, you've got a crush. You're only reacting to it like a 14-year-old rather than a 16-year-old because you never really got the chance to be one," **Wally explained **"You're two years behind, my friend!"**

"Sorry, Wally, but I'm not one of those guys who falls for a girl after only knowing her for five freaking minutes," Dick smugly said as he ended the chat.

He sat back for only a moment when a massive headache hit him. He groaned at the pressure in his head and became highly sensitive to every little sound around him. Dick curled up with his arms over his head and screwed his eyes shut. The door opened and his nurse came in. She saw him curled up on his bed and walked over to him.

"Mr. Grayson? Mr. Grayson?!" she said to him, reaching out to attempt to shake his shoulder.

Dick was extremely on edge from the splitting headache and the nurse talking to him wasn't helping. She put her hand on his shoulder and straight up yelled into his ear...

"Mr. Grayson?!"

Dick snapped and spun round. The nurse got the heal of his sneaker in her back, her arms twisted behind her and Dick pushing her down onto the ground. She began gasping from the shock and managed to press the distress button in her pocket. Dick jumped back from her and curled up under the blankets. Security rushed in and helped the stunned nurse to her feet.

"Amber, what happened?" a security guard (that was coincidentally the nurse's boyfriend) asked.

"He- the- Mr. Grayson-" the nurse, Amber, stammered "He's... under the sheets,"

The security guards pulled the covers back to reveal Dick rocking back and forth with his hands over his ears. They tried to talk to him but that didn't help.

"SHUT-UP!" he shouted and tried to attack again.

He was pinned down quickly due to his disorientation and he was pulled to his feet. Through all of this, his IV had fallen and the tube giving him anticonvulsant medication had slipped from in his arm and only remained up his sleeve by the hospital tape. Add that to the extreme mental stimulation of the noise and situation... a seizure was bound to occur.

Dick collapsed to the ground as his brain's electrical impulses were messed up by the presence of his tumors...


	7. Chapter 6: No Matter What

**I grappled with myself over whether to publish this story or not so thank you for all the positive reviews that showed me I made the right call.**

**Also, if you can think of any hospital positions other members of the Justice League could have, tell me! I'd love to know! Who should be a surgeon? Who should be an oncologist? And so on!**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 6:

No Matter What

Zatanna held a forth tissue up to her nose as her nosebleed continued. It was just one of many side effects of chemotherapy and, oh joy for her, she was at the beginning of a 5 week regimen. Currently hanging from her IV were bags of cisplatin and doxorubicin as well as penicillin to prevent a secondary infection. Diana was coming to take a blood sample to see if she was losing blood cells. At least there was a mid-regimen break before she had a high dosage of methotrexate for the third and fourth weeks. Then that was followed by folinic acid to help with her side effects two or three days later.

Other than her nosebleeds, Zatanna's side effects included vomiting, a loss of appetite and fatigue as well as dark red dots on her arms and legs. Her throat was also dry and she often felt cold. Her doctors often told her to drink plenty of water and that's what she did to nearly no avail to dampen her throat. On top of that, she was beginning to get a rash around the sights her IV tubes were inserted.

"H-Hello, Zatanna, how are you feeling today?" Diana asked as she entered "I'm just going to take a little blood to check your cell count and see if you need a blood transfusion, okay?"

Zatanna weakly nodded since her excursions the past few days had tired her out completely. She did notice that Diana wasn't so cheery as she prepared to take the blood.

"Diana, what's wrong?" she asked as she extended her arm to her.

Diana paused in midair as she was about to dap some disinfectant solution on her arm. She sat down beside her and continued with the taking of blood before speaking.

"It's... Dick..." she said "He suffered a severe migraine this morning and attacked his nurse as a result. The whole situation caused him to have one of his longest seizures yet, a full four minutes, so he was moved to ICU,"

Zatanna stared at Diana as she took the blood she needed and stood to check the IV bags. Diana passed her her cup of water and waited to see if she needed anything else. Zatanna lowered her cup from her lips and put it aside again before taking hold of Diana's wrist with her thin fingers.

"Take me to him..." she stated, clearly.

"But, Zatanna, he's in ICU! That's stands for-" began Diana but was interrupted.

"Intensive Care Unit," said Zatanna "I've been in there myself but I'm begging you... I want to see him... please..."

Diana looked at the ill teenager and sighed as she caved in. Zatanna smiled when she agreed and cooperated with her nurse as she was lifted into her wheelchair. She was still only wearing a white nightgown with a white beanie over her head but she just wanted to see Dick again... to make sure he was okay, that is.

* * *

Dick's head lolled on his pillow as he woke-up. He was completely exhausted but no amount of sleep was helping. He squinted at the gleam of the hospital lights and groaned at how sore he was.

_"Poor, Amber,"_ Dick thought to himself _"I shouldn't have reacted that way... she's probably gonna quit. Won't be the first time a nurse left because of me... I should send her something as an apology... bath soups, maybe? Or sented candles?"_

As he thought, a thin smile appeared on his face but it dropped as his muscles ached. He looked over at the beeping of a heart monitor and realized he was in the ICU. His seizure must have been bad then. Dick was about to close his eyes when he heard the door open.

"Here he is. Try to be careful, he's weak at the moment," came Diana's voice.

Zatanna wheeled herself over to him and looked at his pale face. His eyes were only open a bit but he could see the face of his friend.

"Dick?" she said in a quiet voice but suppressed sobs made her tone waver "I-It's me... Zatanna? Diana told me what happened... sounds like you were under a lot of stress..."

She looked at him with hope but he just remained how he was; silent with his chest going up and down as he breathed. Zatanna looked down and took a breath before turning to Diana to leave.

"Z..."

She looked back to see Dick's lips trembling as he tried to speak.

"Z... ta... na..."

Diana pushed Zatanna back over to him and she reached out to take Dick's hand. He steadily turned to look at her and gave her a genuine smile. They smiled at each other and Dick weakly managed to hold her hand back. Diana observed the scene and smiled at the support they showed each other.

"You're... here?" Dick said, his voice horse.

"Yep," said Zatanna "We're friends now so I'll be by your side... no matter what,"

Dick's smile grew at her words.

"No matter what..." he repeated before falling asleep.


	8. Chapter 7: A Rose in the Sunlight

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 7:

A Rose in the Sunlight

Dick wasn't allowed to leave the ICU until the next morning but had pretty much recovered. Zatanna came to hang out with him but was obviously still worried for him. Within two hours, he got her hooked on three different animes and helped her understand algebra. She, in turn, taught him the physics of tennis, shared a box of authentic Italian cannolis and complained about the devastating differences between pizza in Italy and America. By lunch time, the two of them were sitting on opposite sides of her hospital bed and eating Chinese food with Diana supervising the two.

"Okay, your turn to ask me a question," said Dick, finishing off his noodles.

"A'right, let me think," said Zatanna "Uhh... you're a genius so... what's your IQ?"

Dick chuckled and put his box of Chinese food aside.

"Gotham City University estimated about... um... 210 and 225," he said "My turn, how come you know so much about tennis?"

Zatanna seized up and stuffed her mouth with chicken. Although she had made friends with Dick, their friendship was new and she wasn't ready to tell him of her athletic past.

"I... uh... I'm not... ready to reveal that..." she stammered "Maybe some day but not today..."

"'Kay," Dick said "Then, how about, what's your greatest dream?"

"Hmm... to see the Louvre in Paris," she said "I love art but my drawing skills fall a little short,"

"You're an artist?" Dick said, leaning forward "Can I see?"

Zatanna blushed and leaned away from him. She sighed and reached over to her bedside table and managed to pull it open. She pulled a large sketch book out and took out a tin of pencils.

"Stay still," she said, taking a certain pencil out.

Dick just smiled at her and her hand moved over the sketch book page at high speed. She looked up at him every few seconds before looking back down at her page. It wasn't long until she put her pencil away and turned the book to show him. Dick looked at it with surprise and took the stretch book. He expected her to be okay but she was full-out gifted!

"This is... wow. You're very good, Zee," he said "Can I see some of your other pictures?"

Zatanna blushed.

"I, uh, I'm not... I'm not ready to show anyone," she said "not yet... I'm... I was working on something... but... then I was diagnosed so..."

"Well, you're amazing so you should continue whatever you were working on," said Dick, passing the sketch book back to her.

Zatanna's blush deepened and she closed the book. The door was suddenly flung open and a blonde-haired woman rushed in.

"Richard John Grayson, Jr.! Our session began 15 minutes ago!" she exclaimed.

"I hate being called 'junior', I go by 'the 2nd'," Dick grumbled "What session?"

"Check your notepad," the woman stated.

Dick pulled a notepad from his jeans pocket and flicked it open. He groaned and fell back in exasperation. Zatanna took the notepad and read what it said:

_Thursday, 11 a.m., therapy session with Dr. Lance_

"I'm Dr. Dinah Lance, St. Agnes' psychiatrist," said the woman and she introduced herself to Zatanna "Dick, you're still suffering short-term memory loss,"

Dick moaned but got to his feet, leaning against his IV.

"A'right, how long left in the session?" he asked.

"45 minutes so come on. Walking helps you think so we're going through the hospital gardens," said Dr. Lance, checking her clipboard.

Dick waved goodbye to Zatanna and left the room with the psychiatrist. She flicked through the pages and saw the sketches to the "something" she had been working on. For so long, she'd had an image in her mind and had practiced her art skills to try to put the image down on paper. Her hand shaking, Zatanna began working on sketches.

* * *

Dick looked around at the flowers and the occasional patient in the hospital gardens. His IV rattled as he pulled it along the stone pathway. He was just glad one of his side effects to the chemo wasn't a sensitivity to sunlight.

"It's been two weeks since our last session, Dick, how have things been going since then?" Dinah asked.

"The usual," Dick said, kicking aside a pebble "Had some chemo, suffered some seizures and I went to Leslie for radiotherapy,"

"What about your new friend I found you with? Her name's Zatanna, right?"

Dick looked up at the hospital psychiatrist with an eyebrow raised.

"You serious? We met at radiotherapy," he said "We ran into each other again here when she came to check out the place,"

Dinah took a note of this.

"And the... incident?" she asked.

Dick sighed and looked away.

"It was an... accident..." he said "I had a crazy big migraine and the hospital noises... it was all too much!"

"You were over stimulated by the sound," Dinah stated.

"Yeah! Then Amber came in and tried to get my attention but... she _yelled_ in my ear!" Dick exclaimed "I'm a trained martial artist and she surprised me... I regret what I did but I wasn't in my right mind,"

Dinah looked at him and could tell he just wanted some silence.

"Well, all I can really tell you is to get a good pair of earplugs or go to a retreat for some silence. Psychologically speaking, I think you need to get out of town," she said "But..."

"But my chemo regimen doesn't allow far-distance travel," Dick stated, looking at the flowers around them "I've heard it all before..."

Dinah watched as he looked at the flower patches and saw a beautiful rose rising from amongst the daffodils. There hadn't been roses in the garden since last year. For some reason, it reminded him of Zatanna. Dick got an idea and ran to the hospital gift shop as fast as he could with an IV.

* * *

Zatanna was looking online for a more maneuverable wheelchair to replace the clunky one she borrowed from the hospital. They went from $100 to $300 when her father could barely afford rent, medical bills and food. He was doing all he could to pay for everything and most of her medical bills were covered by charitable organizations. Either way, they burned through the money she got from her tennis career after her diagnoses. There was a surefire way to get $2000 but that was by selling her mother's gold locket with a ruby set in the inside of the lid. Zatanna cherished it incredibly and, to keep it safe, her father splurged to keep it in a safety deposit box and gave her the key.

All in all, they had a _lot _of bills to pay. Zatanna looked at what eBay was selling and checked dozens of other sites about which brand was best. She didn't even know how she was going to pay for it all. There was a knock on the door and she called for them to enter.

"Hey, I'm back and Dinah said all I need is some therapeutic silence," Dick said as he entered.

He held something behind his back as he tugged his IV along beside him.

"Well, that's good. Where you going?" Zatanna asked.

"Nah, my treatments keep me from going out of town," said Dick and he sat on the bottom of the bed.

Zatanna tried to look behind him but he smiled as he hid it.

"What's that?" she asked, trying to look behind him.

"It's... a present. For being concerned about me after my seizure yesterday," Dick said and he took a box out from behind his back.

It was creamy-white box with a black lace ribbon tied around it. Zatanna happily pulled the ribbon off and lifted the lid up.

"Oh, Dick!" she stammered.

"I saw it in the garden during my session and it made me think of you for some reason. It made me think about how drab and impersonal your room is so..." he said "I ran to the gift shop to get the vase then I picked it up while making sure the roots are still good," and he subconsciously rubbed his knuckles at how many times the hospital staff made him wash his hands after.

Inside the box was a round vase made of dark blue glass filled with soal. From the soal grew a beautiful rose beginning to bloom. She smiled as she lifted it out of the box and she sniffed it.

"Dick... thank you, it's beautiful," Zatanna said to him "Where can I put this?" and she looked about.

"Here," Dick said and he picked the vase up.

Zatanna watched him get up and walk around to the other side of her bed. He tried to control his rolling IV by kicking it along with his foot. He placed the rose on the windowsill and directed it to the sunlight as it came through the window.

"Here, you should give it some water," said Zatanna and she offered him her cup of water.

Dick took it and poured some water into his hand before spilling it into the pot. He turned and the two smiled at each other. She noticed at how the light came down on him and set his beautiful sapphire eyes ablaze. He offered her a smile and she accepted it by smiling back. For a moment, she didn't see him as a boy suffering from multiple brain tumors but an intelligent young man who cared deeply about those around him.

"Sicut alio nomine Rosa odorem suavissimum," Dick said.

"That's Latin. It means 'a rose by any other name will smell just as sweet'. You didn't say you spoke Latin," Zatanna said.

"Huh... guess I forgot," he said and gave her another smile "Well, I've got to have a blood sample taken in case my cell counts going down so I'll see you later. Enjoy the rose,"

She watched as he left her room and left her alone. She let out a sigh before laying back and turning her head to look at her gift. Zatanna smiled as a blush came to her cheeks.


	9. Chapter 8: Beauty

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 8:

Beauty

After learning of the flower Dick gave her, Diana brought Zatanna a little watering can to water it with. Dinah hadn't said it but she had noticed and reported that Dick was happier when around or speaking of Zatanna. The two were definitely happier upon befriending each other. But that didn't matter as, the day after her blood was taken, the test results came back and revealed Zatanna needed a blood transfusion because of her low cell count. Dick did his best to cheer her up but after no doner was found within the following two days, Zatanna didn't feel like playing cards with him. They'd known each other for a week by then and already they could read each other like an open book.

"Zee, everything's gonna be okay," Dick said, putting down his cards.

Zatanna put down her own cards and looked away with tears around the brim of her eyes. She had dizzy spells, pale skin and she wore a heart monitor around her wrist to measure her quickened heart rate because of her low red cell count. Any other side effects she was already suffering from because of her cancer. Zatanna looked back at Dick and tried to wipe her eyes with a tissue usually reserved for her nosebleeds.

"Dick... I..." she stammered "My... my dad isn't a match... neither is my uncle... my last hope is my cousin, Zachary. We both have our shared grandfather's blood type but... Zach's only 12 and he's terrified of needles... if he doesn't want to give a blood sample, my uncle won't make him..."

"Zee... the doctors said Zach's about to give a blood sample to be sent back here for testing," Dick said, attempting to cheer her up "Then he flies over, gives blood and you're okay,"

"But... What if he isn't a match?!" Zatanna cried and wrapped her thin arms over her head.

Dick pried her fingers from gripping her beanie and pulled her arms down. She shook as tears ran down her face. Dick repeated her name to get her attention but she refused to listen. She began to thrash around in despair only for him to pulled her into his arms. Zatanna blushed as she was pulled against him and she realized that he was actually pretty muscler despite his tumors.

"Zatanna... it's going to be fine... even if Zach isn't a match, we'll find someone who is... you just have to hang in there and I know you will..." Dick whispered to her "You're no quitter,"

Zatanna hugged him and he let her cry all of her suppressed tears out into his shoulder. He offered her the occasional gentle "shush" and rubbed her back. She pulled away, her eyes red, and sniffed. Zatanna then realized how uncomfortable her wig was so she removed her beanie only for there to be no improvement. She began poking her fingers in to scratch but found it hard without taking her wig off.

"Dick, can you... leave? I want to take my wig off but I'm... I-I just don't like people seeing me..." Zatanna stammered "Man, this thing is itchy..."

Dick nodded and complied to her request. Once he was out the door, Zatanna took her wig off and scratched. It was mostly the net in her wig that was itchy but it was just a cheap wig. She lay back, the playing cards still scattered across her bed and tried to be comfortable with nothing covering her baldness. She didn't notice when Diana entered to check on her until she turned her head.

"Diana..." she whispered.

"Yes?" the nurse responded.

"Am..." Zatanna suddenly shot up and looked at Diana with watery eyes "Am I ugly?!"

* * *

The next morning, Zatanna awoke to Diana's surprisingly early arrival. It was early so she didn't really process what was going on. Either way, she ended up wearing a panda bear t-shirt, jeans, flipflops and her uncomfortable wig. She only fully woke-up when she was sitting in her wheelchair and being pushed towards the hospital entrance.

"Uh, Diana? What's going on?" Zatanna asked.

"Well," said Diana, excitedly "When you asked if you were ugly, I looked into the funding for supplying wigs but there wasn't much there. Then I was talking to myself about asking Dr. Lance to talk to you when Dick, who was lurking in the shadows like he always does, overheard and said it was a pity because you're beautiful. Then he said if a cheap wig was making you miss what everyone else sees... he'd pay for a proper one made just for you,"

Zatanna looked up at Diana in shock and looked out the glass doors as she was pushed along. She saw a black limousine waiting outside and she denied the idea that it was for her. Then she was proven wrong when Dick opened the door when he saw them.

"Hey," he said.

"Did you get Diana to kidnap me?" Zatanna asked him in a mock unamused tone.

"Pretty much. I thought it best to go early when the mall opens. I don't really like being around a lot of people and I get the feeling you don't either," Dick said, grinning "C'mon, let's go!"

Zatanna just smiled at him as she was lifted into his family's limo and her wheelchair folded up and put in the back. It was definitely the most luxurious limo she'd ever been in. Red velvet carpeting, leather seats, surround sound, the works! In the limo with her and Dick was Diana, Bruce and... the secretary from Dr. Thompson's clinic?

"Hello, good to see you again," the secretary said.

"Um... hi," Zatanna said, timidly.

"Zee, this is my adoptive mother, Selina Kyle-Wayne," said Dick "She's the part-time secretary at Leslie's radiotherapy clinic,"

Zatanna looked at her. She was very beautiful with long midnight black hair and sparkling green eyes. He eyes were pointed with thick lashes that actually gave her a vague cat-like appearance.


	10. Chapter 9: Confidence

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 9:

Confidence

It was quite possible they were the first people to come to the mall that day. Zatanna liked the atmosphere and quietness but knew it would probably get pretty busy once shoppers began to arrive. Dick pushed her for a change and the group headed in the direction of a hair salon that also made wigs for cancer patients. The owner, Shauna, was apparently a lung cancer patient in remission and her crazy afro was a wig. She was black and dressed highly fashionable.

"Ah, Selina, here for a cut or are you finally going to let me make a wig for your handsome son at last?" Shauna asked.

"Actually, we're here for a friend of Dick's," said Selina.

"This is Zatanna and she's obviously beautiful but her uncomfortable wig doesn't make her feel like it," said Dick, putting his hand on Zatanna's shoulder "Think you could work your magic and make her realize it?"

"Of course, darling! Come, Zatanna, we need measurements!" Shauna declared and pushed her in the direction of a back room with Diana following behind her.

Dick and his parents sat in the waiting area as they waited for Shauna to measure Zatanna's head and decide on what colour hair to use as well as how many strands.

* * *

After measuring, Shauna put a band around Zatanna's head and clipped a lock of hair on to see how it looked. It was already decided Zatanna needed thick hair rather than thin so they used locks with the most amount of strands. At first, Shauna tried shades of black but they reminded Zatanna of her old life...

"Let's try something lighter then," said Shauna.

Diana even began helping to pick a colour out. Most girls, they'd be trying to pick out a colour of clothes but not Zatanna... she was picking wig colour. When all basic colours were rejected, Shauna and Diana began mixing the colours. First, mainly black with brown highlights. Then red with blond followed by brown with blonde. Diana remembered a picture she'd seen of Zatanna's mother, who looked identical to her daughter. This gave her an idea. With Shauna's help, she used a dim blonde with brown and ebony lowlights. Zatanna liked it so Shauna duplicated the colour scheme with several other clips of locks and attached them to the headband. Since the top of her scalp was uncovered, Diana put Zatanna's beanie over her head to hide where the locks were clipped on. Zatanna looked into the mirror and realized she looked... nice.

"Shall we show the people paying for this confidence booster?" Diana asked her, taking hold of the handles of her wheelchair.

Zatanna couldn't help but smile and nodded her head. Diana rolled her out into the main salon and called out to the awaiting people. When they looked up, Selina exclaimed how beautiful she looked. Dick just stared as a blush appeared on his cheeks. He already thought Zatanna was beautiful but seeing her now was like seeing her all dressed up. She noticed he hadn't said anything and she rolled over to him.

"Dick? What do you think?" she asked, nervously biting her lip.

Dick looked at her, his awe struck expression still on his face.

"You look..." he managed to say "beautiful... all fancy with a wig on,"

Zatanna smiled as a blush appeared on her face. She leaned out of her chair and hugged him. Dick was surprised but hugged back after he processed what was happening. Bruce asked about the price and Shauna said it was free, which was quite nice of her. She also said for them to come back that afternoon because she was going to work only on Zatanna's wig for the next 6 hours! It was currently 9:30 so they agreed to come back at 3:30 p.m.

Regrettably, Zatanna had to go back to her old wig and, somehow, it was even more uncomfortable. She couldn't thank Dick enough for donating the money for her new wig, even though Shauna was doing it for free, and thanked him repeatedly. Dick was just happy she was seeing herself as the beauty she really was.

* * *

Back at St. Agnes', Zatanna was in a noticeably better mood and everyone could see it. She continued to look at the time and was particularly fidgety when lunch time came.

"Zee, chill out. It's only 12 o'clock," Dick said "so eat your salad,"

Zatanna smiled and forked up some of her leafy greens.

"It's just... I felt like... I just haven't felt myself for a while so looking normal... it made me feel myself again..." she said, smiling as she sipped her drink.

"I'm glad it's giving you a boost of confidence. But you should know you look just fine with just a beanie on to me," Dick said as he ate some fries.

Zatanna looked at him and a blush crossed over her face. Dick suddenly held his head in his hands and groaned. He took a sudden gulp of water and rose to his feet.

"Dick?"

"I've... got to go... migraine!" he stammered and he ran off.

"Dick!" Zatanna called after him.

He was remarkably quick and agile and she had no chance of catching up to him in a wheelchair while she was in need of a blood transfusion. She decided to try searching for him and rolled off in the direction he'd gone.

* * *

"Dick?!" Zatanna called as she entered the storage room.

It was the quietest room in the direction he had ran and she just hoped he was there. She saw what seemed to be him through the gaps of the shelves. She rolled over and saw Dick curled up in the corner. Zatanna reached down and tapped his shoulder. Dick turned around and looked up at her. Silently, she waved hello and pretended to zip her mouth shut.

"Z-Zee..." Dick stammered but covered his ears and groaned.

Zatanna reached down and took his hands in hers.

"It's okay... it'll be fine... just focus on my voice..." she said, gently tugging him into standing "Cover your ears and I'll lead you to your room where you can get your earplugs... then I'll get you some aspirin, okay?"

"Okay..." Dick stammered.

He covered his ears, pressing his hands against his head and Zatanna took hold of his arm. Carefully, she began rolling herself along and guided him along with her. She looked at him to see tears in the corners of his eyes as his head pounded. People turned to look at them as Zatanna led him through the noises of the hospital. As soon as Dick was at the door to his room, he shot in and jammed his 100% soundproof earplugs in. Zatanna smiled as he fell to his knees with a relaxed expression. She rolled in and found his aspirin and a glass of water for him.

* * *

Three hours later, Dick's migraine was gone and they went to the mall for Zatanna's wig. She was excited and it was contagious. Bruce said Dick could get a new game for his XBox while they were there which confused Zatanna because she hadn't seen an XBox in his room (or a T.V for that matter). When they got to Shauna's salon, they noticed she had changed wigs from her big brunette afro to slick black hair in a braid.

"Darlings! You're back!" Shauna exclaimed "Now, Zatanna, your wig is a work of art! I did it follicle by follicle, strand by strand and it's the greatest wig I've ever made! Nothing can compare!"

"Thank you, Shauna," said Dick "Ready, Zee?"

Zatanna nodded and Diana pushed her to the back room where she was to be fitted with her new wig. Dick and Bruce sat down as they waited. After a few moments, they heard an excited shriek and Zatanna was rolled out. She had a perfectly made dirty-blonde wig that could be mistaken for her real hair and the locks of the wig went down to her shoulder blades with corkscrew curls at the ends.

"It's stylable but if it ever gets damaged, you just come down here and I'll fix it up right for you," said Shauna, checking each lock and individual strand "Come here if you want it done up, okay? But you can put it into simple styles like ponytails and braids on your own,"

Zatanna looked into a mirror and smiled. It looked real and the cap it was attached to was so soft that it didn't feel like anything at all. She took hold of one of the locks over her shoulders and felt the strands.

"It's like real hair..." she gasped "and I love the curl at the ends. Gives it some flare,"

Everyone smiled at Zatanna's happy reaction and it seemed some colour returned to her cheeks. Her smile certainly brought joy to everyone else's hearts. The wig was definitely giving her some much needed confidence.


	11. Chapter 10: Transfusion

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 10:

Transfusion

The next day, Zach's blood sample came back as a match to Zatanna so he and her uncle hopped on a plane and jetted off to America. Zatanna was actually doing worse now and counted the moments the 9 hour flight took from Rome to New York. She didn't feel strong enough to get out of bed and her sore throat made talking hurt. Despite this, Dick tried to keep her happy and hopeful for the future. Zatanna still had her new wig on and occasionally lifted her hand up to touch it with a smile.

"Okay, do you want to watch..." Dick looked through her DVD collection "Avatar?" he suggested.

"No thanks, Dick," Zatanna said, her voice little more than a croak "You could water my rose for me if you want,"

Dick obliged and went over to the windowsill where he gave the blooming flower a drink. She looked at him and tears began to form in her eyes. He went over to her and gave her a hug as she began to cry.

"It's a routine procedure, Zee, you'll be fine," Dick said to her.

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't be nervous..." Zatanna murmured "Robin..."

"What did you just call me?" he asked, pushing her away.

"What? You thought no one would notice? You have bird emblems on your laptop, your phone and even your iPod. I wouldn't be surprised if you have one on an iPad. Also, there's always a bird element to what you wear," Zatanna pointed out "From a bird on your beanie to on the sides of your sneakers. You like birds and your favourite seems to be the common robin,"

Dick looked at her with shock. He never really realized it but he really did like birds. It made sense, though. Sighing, he sat on the bed beside her and took out his laptop from its case. Zatanna watched as Dick logged on and went into some files titled "the Graysons" and searched through some documents. He clicked one and a picture of a blue bird-like silhouette came up with something written in Latin on a banner underneath.

"Expande tuum et alas atque volare," Zatanna read "I know some Latin but I don't recognize these words,"

"It means... 'Spread your wings and fly'. This is my family crest and that was my family motto going back all the way to the 12th century..." Dick said "My family has always had this innate acrobatic ability and we were known as the Flying Graysons..."

"That sounds familiar," Zatanna said, trying to think.

"I have my own skeletons in my closet," he said, chuckling as he closed his laptop.

Zatanna looked at him but smiled and accepted it. She hadn't told him of her past so why should he tell her his? Dick turned to face her and they were both flustered by how close their faces were. For a moment, they remained still as a blush crept into their cheeks.

"Uhh..." Dick stammered "We... uh..."

"Yeah?" Zatanna asked as all sense of worry left her because of his presence.

"You..." he said and got up "should prepare yourself for a blood cell transfusion... Zachary will probably arrive soon..."

Zatanna seemed disappointed but nodded in agreement. Dick hurriedly left her room and she collapsed backwards into her pillow with a sigh. The whole time, Diana had been sitting in the corner and observing the whole thing. She smiled as she got back to her crossword. The clue was:

** What does the heart want?**

Diana grinned as the answer came to her.

_L-O-V-E_

* * *

Zatanna nervously fiddled with her fingers as she waited for the doctors, her cousin and her uncle. She was nervous despite it being a simple procedure. Diana was prepping her and made sure everything was in perfect order. Then Giovanni and Zachary entered with Zach's father, Giorgio, along with the doctor appointed to administer the blood transfusion.

"Ciao, Zatanna. It's... been... a... l-ong... time," he stammered as he struggled to think of the English words.

"Hi, Zach. Hi, Uncle Giorg," Zatanna said, her Italian accent coming out as she spoke.

As the Zataras were just reacquainted with each other, the doctor spoke.

"It's time to give blood, Mr. Zatara," he said "My name is Doctor N. Fate,"

"Uhh... I do-n't know... a lot... of Eng-lish," Zachary stated.

Giorgio translated and his son understood. Zach sat on his older cousin's bed and a plaster with numbing cream under it was taken off. Dr. Fate wiped away the cream and tapped to check if Zach had really gone numb in his elbow. The little boy screwed his eyes shut when the needle was inserted but curiously opened them when he felt nothing happen.

"So, how have things been Baby Zee?" Giorgio asked his niece.

"Uncle Giorg, you haven't called me that in years," Zatanna said, smiling at him.

Giorgio couldn't help but look at her wig. It looked so real he wondered if Zatanna had gone blonde since the last time they saw each other (nearly two years ago). She aggusted it's position and flicked some strands out. Giovanni had e-mailed him not to mention her hair loss but the quality of the wig bewildered him.

"That's all the blood we need. Mr. Zatara, can you translate 'thank you' to him?" Dr. Fate asked.

Giovanni and Giorgio looked at each other.

"Umm... which one of us are you talking to?" Giorgio asked.

Zatanna rolled her eyes and translated for her cousin. She was happy to see the little family she still had. The doctor went over to the waiting IV and hooked up the bag of blood. He inserted the tube into it and placed the needle into Zatanna's wrist. He put a bit of medical tape over it and then handed Zachary a cookie to eat.

"You should get better now, right, Zatanna?" Giorgio asked.

"No... Uncle Giorg... my chemotherapy has a bunch of side effects..." Zatanna miserably explained "One is a drop in white or red blood cells... that's why I needed the blood transfusion..."

Giorgio looked sadly at her. She was his only niece and she was like a daughter to him. He remembered how sad she had been when his wife, her aunt, had passed away. Zach was only 4 at the time of his mother's death but could still remember her face. Why was it that all of the Zatara women were dying out?


	12. Chapter 11: Knights of the Realm

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 11:

Knights of the Realm

Giorgio actually decided to stay in America with Zachary. That way, Zach was near by if Zatanna needed blood and he could help keep Giovanni financially afloat. Zatanna was feeling better within a few days and so, after knowing each other for two weeks, she and Dick were hanging out in the patient's lounge. Dick had gotten a song, The Weekend Whip by the Fold and the two were sharing an earphone each to listen.

"Isn't this the Ninjago theme tune?" Zatanna asked, smiling.

"Yeah but it's still awesome," Dick responded.

Zatanna let out a laugh and began bobbing her head as they listened. Dick smiled at her and at the happy look on her face. Today, she had plaited her wig into two braids with some in her face. The song came to an end and Dick put his iPod away.

"Now what do we do?" Zatanna asked.

She was seated on the sofa and her wheelchair was waiting for her by them. Dick got to his feet and walked over to the box of games. There wasn't anything very challenging when a thought came to him.

"Hey, you ever played Knights of the Realm?" Dick asked, looking back at her.

"Never heard of it," Zatanna said.

Dick smiled a devilish grin and she knew he was about to show her. He picked her up and sat her in her wheelchair before pushing her out of the lounge.

* * *

He took her to his room where his new nurse, an overly excited woman named Sally, was waiting. Dick opened the draw of his hospital dresser and took out two laptops.

"So, what's Knights of the Realm?" Zatanna asked.

"It's my favourite online game. Here," he said and passed her one of the laptops "It's all medieval with dragons and stuff. I'll teach you to play,"

Dick helped her create her character (a blue-haired tree elf) and explained the rules and such. Tree elves came with preprogrammed nature spells and the Sword of the Ancients as a weapon (all characters came with preprogrammed qualities). They also had the ability to befriend animals and call them for help in a fight.

"Okay, now we need to set your stats and choose your outfit then you can start playing," said Dick, laying on his bed "But, first, what are you going to name your character?"

"Umm..." Zatanna thought about it "I'm a tree elf, right? So I'll name my character..." she paused as she typed in her name "The Magic Mistress,"

"Cool. My character's name is Nightwing," said Dick "So, what stats do you want? Enhanced speed, agility, strength or stealth?"

Zatanna thought about it for a moment.

"I think I want enhanced strength," she said "But have it backed up with enhanced agility,"

"Nice choice. My character's got enhanced agility and stealth," said Dick, leaning over to look at her screen "I'll help you through your first quest just to show you how things work, okay?"

"Thanks," she said "I've got no idea what I'm doing,"

They laughed and activated Zatanna's character in a town named "Bethsmoth". A guy in a black hooded cloak came running up to her. She scrolled over him for his name and it came back as "Nightwing".

"Hey, it says you're a level 90 knight with level 20 magic and level 67 fighter," said Zatanna, reading his statistics.

"Yeah. I chose the Knight occupation," said Dick "You need to choose one. Follow my character to the Recruitment Room and you can pick from the register,"

Nightwing ran off and the Magic Mistress followed him. Zatanna scrolled over the tavern Nightwing entered and the name came back as "Recruitment Room". Inside was the basic tavern look with some other players about. Zatanna saw Dick's character standing by a wooden podium that had a book on it. She clicked the book and the option to pick an occupation came up. A menu appeared on her screen that looked like parchment with words written in purple ink.

"There's a Mage occupation," Zatanna said "Sounds like the job for me,"

"You'll start out as a level 1 wizard's assistant then you'll get notifications from your boss to find certain things," Dick said "You should get the notification to find Dragon's Tooth as soon as you click accept,"

"How many levels are there?" she asked him "You're a level 90 knight,"

"There's a-hundred levels in each job, some are easier to level-up than others. In the Mage occupation, if you reach level 100, you'll become a Grand-Master Sorceress. I'll become a Knight of the High Council if I could just go up ten more levels," Dick explained "So, you wanna be a mage?"

"Sounds good to me," said Zatanna and she clicked it.

As soon as the menu went down, a pop-up in the top right hand corner came up that followed the theme of looking like parchment. She clicked on it and, like Dick said, it read:

_ Young Mage, your employer asks of you to travel to Bender's Bog and bring back the element Dragon's Tooth. For your efforts, you will be payed 10 gold coins and your magic skill will increase. Do you accept?_

_Yes or No?_

Zatanna clicked yes and the notification disappeared.

"Now what?" she asked.

"You wanna partner up? Just click on Nightwing and the option 'ask to be partner' should turn up. Click that and I'll get the notification to accept or not. When we've done that, an arrow on the screen or realm map should point in my direction," Dick explained.

When Zatanna clicked on him, not only did "ask the be partner" come up but also "bow to superior". She clicked the one Dick told her to and waited. A moment later, a notification appeared on his screen.

_ The wizard's assistant, the Magic Mistress, has asked you to be her partner. Do you accept?_

_Yes or No?_

"Duh, I accept," Dick said "Now, let's go find some Dragon's Tooth,"

Zatanna smiled as she followed his character and listened to him on how to acquire new spells to increase her magic skill. He even gifted her a "Rain Dance" spell he didn't use anymore that made it rain on its victim and bring down their strength. Zatanna found herself having fun as she accomplished her first quest and accompanied Dick on one of his more advanced quests.

"I never thought I would get into this kinda game," she said as she used a dagger she had found to cut a plant.

"And yet... here you are. Next time I go home, I'll bring my spare headphones and microphone back so you can talk to other players," Dick said "Whoa! I think I just saw a death horse! I'm gonna try to tame it! Wanna use your tree elf powers to help me? If you tame it you can then transfer its elegance to me,"

"What if I want it?" Zatanna asked, grinning as she followed his character down to a river bank.

"I thought you would have wanted a winged stallion. It's practically a uniform/pegasus hybrid with the power to heal," Dick said in response "Ooh! There it is!"

The death horse was black with grey smoak around its ankles and its tail and mane was grey. It had red eyes glowing on either side of its head.

"Should I use my Elvish Entrance on it?" Zatanna asked "That's the spell that makes animals easier to tame, right?"

"Yep but as soon as you do, it'll see us and try to attack. I'll use my Sabor of Death to weaken it and you use a fire spell," Dick explained, changing out his drawn weapon "Oh, crud!"

"What?" Zatanna asked and she looked in the direction his character was looking "Hey! Are they trying to tame it? No fair! We saw it first..."

All of the characters remained still since any attack would startle the death horse.

"I've got it. I'll use my stealth to get over there then you use Elvish Entrance when I attack. I'll keep them busy while you tame the death horse, okay?" Dick said.

"Got it, go for it!" Zatanna said, excitedly waiting for her opportunity.

Nightwing disappeared and she began heading towards the death horse using creep mode as to not startle it.

"You ready?" she asked her partner.

"You bet! I'm behind them and they don't even know it!" Dick laughed "On three. One... two..."

"Three!" Zatanna exclaimed and she used Elvish Entrance.

The other players tried to get in on taming the death horse but Nightwing jumped out and used a basic flash spell to stun the other players. As he fought them, Zatanna tried to pet the death horse's nose. It accepted at first but a fire blast startled it and it kicked Zatanna's character away. Her screen went dimly red as her character sustained damage.

"Sorry!" Dick exclaimed "Try leading it closer to the river! The Fire Elemental will lose power closer to water it gets!"

Zatanna managed to pat the death horse's head and led it using seeds she had picked up. The Fire Elemental character came her way and she used a basic water spell to attack. It disappeared as the player logged off from the game and they were left with the werewolf and the assassin woman. Their names came up as Silvermoon and Crimson Mist.

"Darn! I've encountered these guys before! Crimson Mist is a level 77 assassin and Silvermoon is a level 67 fighter like me! Crimson owes me a favour so I'm gonna have to use my headphones!" Dick exclaimed.

Despite this happening in the digital world, it was still very exciting. Zatanna listened as Dick tried to redeem his favour to get Crimson Mist and Silvermoon to back off. As he did that, she continued to tame the death horse. Eventually, their opponents ran off and Dick took off his headphones.

"I did it! I've tamed a death horse! What do you want me to name it for you?" Zatanna asked.

"Uh... Brimstone," Dick decided "Name him Brimstone for me,"

After doing so and transferring Brimstone's elegance to Nightwing, they logged off after a successful few hours of gaming. Dick let her borrow the laptop until she could get one of her own and she left for a physical therapy session with a smile.

* * *

** What's more romantic than slaying dragons and saving kingdoms together?**

**Phrase of the Day: Let your Freak Flag Fly!**


	13. Chapter 12: The Invitation

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 12:

The Invitation

The next day, Zatanna went in for a routine MRI to get a look at the bone tumors in her legs. She wasn't really thinking about it as she thought about accessing this "god-mode" Dick had mentioned. Apparently, it was when you hacked into the game and accessed everything. Knights of the Realm was reportedly unhackable but Dick had proved that wrong by accessing it. He was currently spending the weekend at his mansion home but would be back soon.

"Just lie back, Miss Zatara," said the assistant as the MRI turned on.

Zatanna did so and relaxed as the machine took a scan of her legs. She knew what they'd say; that nothing had changed. They'd gone through this before... but something strange happened. Her father was called into the room the scans went to. Zatanna turned her head and looked through the window at the other room. The doctor spoke to Giovanni and he looked at Zatanna. The look in his eyes... she knew something had changed.

Giovanni could tell she had figured out something had changed. He ran into the MRI room and fell to his knees beside her. He cried and began apologizing in Italian; to her, to her mother and so on. Giovanni looked up at her and met her eyes... her mother's eyes.

"Dad, what's going on?" Zatanna asked as tears began to form "Please... no secrets! You promised never to keep things from me! Daddy!"

Giovanni looked back up at her.

"I'm sorry, my child, as I have failed you... a father is meant to protect his child..." he stammered.

As he told her, Zatanna felt like her heart stopped. She couldn't believe it... She had been expecting the news but... now it had come... she couldn't believe it! Zatanna didn't say anything and just hugged Giovanni as they comforted each other.

* * *

Giovanni pushed Zatanna down the hallway in the direction of her room. It wouldn't be her room for long as she was being moved to the ward no one dared to wonder. Dick, his IV for the day beside him, came walking over to meet them.

"Hey, Zee. I'm back," he said with a smile but it dropped when he noticed the mood "What's wrong?"

Giovanni came to a stop and Zatanna sadly looked up at her only friend. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to be looked at differently... especially not by him.

"Dick..." she said, her voice horse "Let's go play Knights of the Realm, 'kay? I'll... tell you later... promise,"

Dick steadily nodded and took over from Giovanni to push her to her room.

* * *

Zatanna took a seat on her bed and Dick sat across from her. He noticed how she either played with sadness or she'd fight with pure rage. He could tell something was wrong but he wasn't sure how to ask. Zatanna ferociously attacked an assassin who sought to kill her character to steal her items and magic relics.

"Quit trying to kill me! I'm not in the mood for this!" she hissed into the microphone attached to her headphones given to her by Dick.

**"Whatever, Magic Mistress! I saw you use Sun Charm and I want it!" **the other player said.

"Fine! Have a taste of my most powerful spell!" Zatanna growled.

She selected Roaring Lava and the other player, under the name Tripp Striker, burned up. Tripp yelled in her ear and used Magma Maiden to absorb the Roaring Lava and fight on his behalf. Zatanna groaned and swapped out her spells for the Sword of the Golden Light. She jumped Tripp and repeatedly slashed at him until there was a red skull over the character, meaning he was dead.

"How do _you_ like it, eh?" Zatanna said back "So... what do you have on you..."

She selected raid and found he had an array of things. She guessed he was the type of player that stole from other players rather than do the work to get the items themselves. Dick looked at her and looked back down on the screen.

"Zee, are you okay? You don't usually play so ruthlessly," he said.

"Well, maybe I finally grew a backbone!" Zatanna snapped.

Dick had his character draw his sword and direct it at Zatanna's character.

"Then fight me. I got to level 92 knight while I was at home and my fighting went up to level 70," he said "Even my magic went up to level 22!"

He watched the screen as Magic Mistress drew the Sword of Converged Destinies and attacked. Their headphones filled their heads with the sounds of sword fighting. Zatanna could tell he was going easy on her and she mercilessly struck at his head but he blocked. Seeing all he needed, Dick opened the cheat bar and activated god-mode. This made his character glow and he killed Magic Mistress in one fatal swoop.

Zatanna angrily slammed her laptop closed and rested her head in her hands. Dick closed his and reached out to her. He logged them both offline and pulled her into his arms. Diana looked up at them and observed as Dick rubbed Zatanna's arm.

"Zee... What happened?" he asked.

"I... I went in... for a routine MRI... just to... just to check on... my cancer but..." Zatanna stammered.

"Zatanna... tell me..." Dick said, quietly.

She looked up at him with tears running down her face.

"I... have... I have..." she whimpered and buried her face in his shoulder "I have seven months to live..."

Dick held onto her tighter as her tears came out even faster.

"You've got to start living life then..." he said "I think you need to get on that Last Wishes programs. You need to do whatever you want to do in your life in the next seven months and I'll help you,"

Zatanna looked up at him and a smile grew on her face.

"Thank you..." she said, wrapping her arms around him "Thank you..."

"To start things off, I'd like you and your family to come with me and my family to our cabin. I've got permission to go and I'm sure you can too. There'll be doctors there, obviously," Dick said.

Zatanna looked up at him and a grin grew on her face. She nodded and hugged him. It was at that moment that it hit her like lightning. His calm smile, his gentle eyes, his warm embrace. The way he cared for others, the way he made her smile, the way his presence made her heart pound. There was no denying it... she was falling for Dick!


	14. Chapter 13: The Trip

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 13:

The Trip

At the realization that she had developed feelings for Dick, she knew she had to tell him soon; she only had 7 months to live after all. So, the next day, as they all sat in the RV towards some of America's most preserved woodland, she thought about how she would do so. She looked over at where he sat with his laptop, immersed in Knights of the Realm and thought she'd go online too. As Zatanna typed in her log-in, she looked over at Zachary looking out the window. She smiled and looked back at her screen as her character materialized. She'd heard rumors about the Tiara of Wisdom found in the Caves of the Spirits. It looked pretty cool online and made learning skills easier.

"Psst!" Zatanna hissed at Dick.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"How do you get to the Caves of the Spirits?" she asked.

The two gamers looked to the front of the RV where the adults were before exchanging gamer tips. They'd been told no gaming but the two of them were teenagers (meaning they didn't do what they were told).

"You haven't unlocked it yet. To do that you go to Mt. Drakon and go to the top. Then you search the bushes until one reveals a tunnel, slide down it and you're in the Caves of the Spirits," Dick explained.

"Thanks," Zatanna said, her voice hushed.

They went back to their games and she did as she was told. She found some simple items such as copper coins, cloth and unsmelted metal but not the tunnel. Then she remembered she got Secrets Untold, a spell that revealed hidden things, from Dick when she managed to find him the Deatherite he needed to heal Brimstone. They were yet to find a winged stallion for Zatanna's character to ride so, whenever they teamed up, she'd ride behind Nightwing.

What was funny was Nightwing was actually pretty famous in the game and the news of Magic Mistress being a constant companion to him on quests spread fast. Actually, a few people had asked her if she was his girlfriend! When she answered "no" they'd ask if he had one (which was also answered "no"). They considered being, what the game lingo called, "lovers" in the game but thought that would be weird because, in reality, they were just friends.

Looking back at it, Zatanna wished they were lovers in game... maybe he'd be more susceptible to the idea in real life then? She shook her head of the silly thought and began searching for the Tiara of Wisdom.

"I hope you two aren't gaming!" Bruce called from the front.

Dick and Zatanna looked at each other and quietly logged off their games before they were caught. Zatanna looked out the window at the passing scenery and a small smile came to her face. She knew Dick was definitely going to be getting the therapeutic silence Dr. Lance prescribed.

"Hey, a meteor shower's gonna be passing by tonight!" Dick said, checking the weather report "We've gotta stay up to watch!"

Zatanna thought the idea sounded romantic and the thought of telling him how she felt came to mind. Maybe that would be the perfect opportunity to tell him...

* * *

When they headed down the driveway to the Wayne family cabin, they did not see a cabin. That thing was a mansion! Well, it was too small to be a mansion but too big to be a house.

"That's a rich person's cabin!" Zatanna exclaimed as they parked by the front door.

"You already knew that we're rich, Zee," Dick chuckled "We have our own tower and satellite too so we still get signal out here,"

Zatanna looked at him with a look of horror at the thought of all their money. That look was taken over by a blush when Dick picked her up bridal style and carried her down. The "cabin" was beautiful. It looked like an extra big log cabin with a slated roof in the middle of the forest. The driveway was gravel and there was a fountain in front.

"You didn't say they were rich, Giovanni," Giorgio hissed to his older brother.

"Zatanna mentioned Dick's family had money but I didn't expect this!" Giovanni hissed back.

The two Italian brothers looked at Bruce as the businessman headed up the front steps and opened the front door.

"We're here!" he called.

As soon as he did this, a squeaky voice shouted...

"Daddy!"

The Zataras were surprised by the appearance of a 5-year-old girl with black hair and green eyes. She jumped into Bruce's arms and shrieked with excitement. She then saw Dick and leapt to him. Zatanna got the feeling the little girl would have jumped into Dick's arms if he wasn't already carrying her.

"Hi, Dickie!" the little girl shrieked "Who that you carrying?"

"Lena, this is Zatanna. Zatanna, this is Helena Martha Wayne, my little sister," Dick explained.

He went up the front steps and put her down in a waiting wheelchair. Helena climbed onto Zatanna's lap and sat down without talking. Zatanna was okay with having an adorable little girl keeping her company. Dick pushed her through the front door and she marvelled at the height of the ceiling. It had a freaking chandelier!

"You wanna see the pool? Mommy's out there!" Helena exclaimed.

She jumped off Zatanna's lap and ran across the front hall, past a fireplace and out the glass doors. Dick pushed Zatanna towards that direction and she looked out at the back yard. There was a huge pool with a rock waterfall and slide. The stone tiles stopped to leave a patch of lush green grass. Over the deck was a canopy that blocked the sun.

"Whoa," Zatanna gasped "You really are filthy stinkin' rich,"

Dick laughed and pushed her over to a ramp down from the deck. The sunlight came down and warmed her. They came to a stop and Dick leaned against the handlebars.

"Pretty nice here, isn't it?" he said.

"Yeah... it is... peaceful too," Zatanna sighed.

"My head feels better already. I might just have to stay here until I die," Dick said, calmly rubbing his temple.

Selina came walking over in a black swimsuit with a grey stripe around the waist. She was holding Helena's hand as the little girl swung on her arm.

"Zatanna! Wonderful to see you again. Shauna's wig looks fabulous on you," she said "Now, you need to change into a swimming costume because we're all going swimming!"

"But... I'm paraplegic," said Zatanna, blinking at her.

"Zatanna, in the water is the one place you don't necessarily need your legs," sad Selina.

* * *

After slipping into a cute yellow swimsuit with black bows down the front, Zatanna watched as they threw multiple pool floaties in. She was prepared with a rubber ring around her waist to help her stay balanced. Dick ran up and jumped in, making a huge splash. Helena jumped in after him and he caught her.

"C'mon, Zatanna!" he exclaimed "This is awesome!"

She wasn't so sure because she couldn't kick her legs to help keep her upright. Slowly, Zatanna let herself slip into the water and held onto her pool ring. It was especially made for those who couldn't kick so there was material in the hole of the ring that she had to slide through to keep it on right. She was afraid of flipping over but she timidly reached out and swam forward.

"This is great! We should watch the meteor shower from here!" Dick exclaimed as he playfully dunked Helena underwater then lifted her out.

Zatanna smiled and tried to reach a foam finger that floated on the water. She hadn't been in a pool for a long time... and she loved it. She wanted to float around the pool for hours. Zatanna pulled herself onto a pool float and managed to take her rubber ring off so she could lie down comfortably.

Dick smiled at her and at the utter look of peace on her face. He was happy to see her happy since her prognosis. That reminded him... he was yet to tell her his.


	15. Chapter 14: The Stars

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 14:

The Stars

Since there were more boys than girls, the girls all stayed in the same room. Zatanna got the double bed that made the room a bedroom, Selina was on the sofa and Helena pulled in her bedding. Oddly feeling homesick for the hospital, Zatanna put her rose on the windowsill to give it some light. Helena admired its colour before saying she wanted to go on a hike in the woods. Since Zatanna wasn't able to go through the terrain, she decided to stick around in the cabin. When Dick decided to stay with her, Giorgio said he'd supervise. Dick was doing several mind puzzles to, as he put it, keep himself sharp. Zatanna was amazed by how fast he could do a Rubik's cube and an advanced crossword at once. She was helping out by being his opponent in a game of chess. Dick would wait until the last moment to make his move yet was still several moves ahead of her.

"What are you, the smartest person alive?" Zatanna asked him.

"Nearly. The world's smartest man is an Australian guy with an IQ of 230 and mine is between 210 and 225. Heck, I'm smarter than Stephen Hawking," said Dick as he solved another puzzle "I'm either the second or third smartest person alive but it won't be verified unless I get a proper IQ test done instead of estimates,"

Zatanna looked at him.

"Why don't you want it verified?" she asked.

"'Cause," he said "I'm already in the limelight enough as the ill son of a billionaire. If it got out I was one of the smartest people on the planet... everything would explode,"

Zatanna chuckled but playfully hit him as he put her into check-mate. She smiled at him as a blush crept onto her cheeks. Like many geniuses, Dick was prone to being oblivious to the most obvious things. This included the times a delicate blush crept onto Zatanna's face or the dreamy look she got when looking at him.

"Hey, kids," said Giorgio "You want to come to the convenience store with me? I'm picking up some things for tonight's meteor shower,"

"Like what?" Zatanna asked.

"Graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate sauce. The usual s'moore ingredients," he replied.

"Awesome, I love s'moores!" Dick said, jumping to his feet.

"Guess I'm coming too," said Zatanna and she lifted her arms up for one of them to lift her into her wheelchair.

* * *

When they returned back to the cabin, everyone else had returned from their hike. Selina happily showed them the photos she had taken of the sights. Zatanna thought a picture of Helena sitting amongst a flower patch was adorable. She looked out the window and saw Dick and Bruce digging a pit.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

"Oh, they're making a fire pit for tonight," Selina answered.

Zatanna watched as Bruce ruffled Dick's hair in a fatherly manner before they continued to dig. It was only a shallow hole but it was wide. Helena was looking for firewood with Zachary and the two were trying to cross their language barrier. Zatanna smiled. It was such a cozy scene to watch.

"C'mon, let's take them some glasses of lemonade," said Selina, getting to her feet.

* * *

When night came, everyone was excited for the meteor shower. It wasn't due to start until 11:35 p.m. but they killed the time making s'moores by the fire pit. Zatanna was eating her fifth s'moore when Dick said he knew the best place to watch the meteor shower. Where he took her... was the roof. There was a little flat part that you could get to through the attic and that was where they were.

"Wow... the stars are beautiful..." said Zatanna, looking up at them all "That's Orion, right?"

"Yep and that's Leo," said Dick, pointing the constellation out to her.

"What time is it?" she asked and checked her watch; it was 11:32.

Dick looked at the sky in the hopes of seeing the meteors as they passed Earth and Zatanna looked at him. He was so cute with that childish excitement in his eyes. That was it... She had to tell him!

"Uh... Dick?"

"Yeah?" he asked "What is it? You cold? I can go get a blanket for you,"

"No! No!" Zatanna exclaimed and stopped him from getting up "I... need to tell you something..."

Dick tilted his head like a confused puppy.

"What is it?" he asked.

A blush crept onto her cheeks and she turned away as her heart pounded.

"I... Well... ever since I met you, I've enjoyed your company..." she began "and after my prognosis... it hit me..."

She turned to look back at him and her blush deepened.

"Zee, what is it?" Dick asked her "You can tell me,"

Zatanna took a deep breath before looking up into his confused blue eyes.

"I... like you..." she said.

"I... like you too? Zee, we're friends," Dick stated, confused.

"No... I mean..." Zatanna stammered "I... _like,_ like you... as in as a crush..."

Dick's sapphire eyes widened, a blush rushing to his cheeks and he sat back in his hands.

"Oh..." he said, stunned.

Zatanna laughed and looked up at the sky as the first meteor flew by. Then another... and another... it was breathtaking! Dick looked at her as a knot sat in the bottom of his stomach. He had to tell her and she had just revealed she liked him! But his feelings weren't important at that moment... What was important was sparing Zatanna of any pain.

"Z... Zatanna?" Dick stammered and she turned to him "The first thing... I thought the day I met you... was that you were beautiful... then I found out you're intelligent too... everything I could want... I... like you too..."

Zatanna gasped with a smile on her face and bit her bottom lip as she found herself leaning forward. The sound of her beating heart drowned out all else. Dick found his hands on her sides and her hands on his shoulders. His heart beat was so fast he thought he could be having a heart attack. Just as they were a breath away from each other... Dick pushed her away. Zatanna was shocked to say the least and looked at him.

"Dick... why?" she asked.

"Zatanna... I want to... I really do..." he said "But..."

"But, what?" Zatanna exclaimed at him "If it wasn't for the fact I need a wheelchair, I'd be storming off right now!"

Dick clenched his fists and rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal his medical bracelet. He held his wrist out to her and she took the hint to read it. What she read made tears well up.

"They told me a month ago, about two weeks before we met..." Dick explained "They say I won't live to my 17th birthday and that's the first of December,"

"You..." Zatanna stammered "You only have... five months to live..."


	16. Chapter 15: Falling Petals

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 15:

Falling Petals

5 months... that's all she could think. The one person who made her forget about her problems was going to die before her. The morning after the meteor shower was boiling hot. Zatanna felt awful sitting in a sticky wheelchair all day and spent most of the time sitting on top of her bed covers. That didn't stop her from going to get lemonade, though. She was wheeling back to her room when she saw Dick sitting on the deck. Nervously, Zatanna rolled herself out the door and stopped beside him.

"Dick..." she said, quietly "Dick?"

"I'm sorry..." he suddenly apologized "I didn't mean to hurt you last night, it's just... I don't want my death to hurt you more than it has to,"

Zatanna looked at the back of his head and she looked away with tears in her eyes.

"I understand you want to protect me... but you hurt me even more by rejecting me," she said.

Dick lifted his head from his arms and turned to look at her.

"I did?" he said and she nodded "I didn't mean to..."

"I know, Dick, it's just... I only have seven months to live and you only have five... we should spend that time together while we can rather than wallow in self-pity. I like you, Dick Grayson, and I'm not taking no for an answer!" Zatanna exclaimed.

Dick stood up and turned to her. There was a smile on his face as he bent down to be at her level.

"Then how could I refuse?" he asked.

Zatanna was stunned but even more so when he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. It only lasted a second before he pulled away and left but it was a kiss all the same. A blush came to her cheeks and a small smile on her face. But, wait... were they dating or not?

* * *

Zatanna spent the rest of the day in a confused state over that question... were they together? She became too flustered to ask him when they bumped into each other and blushed when they were with other people. As the sun began to set, she found him sitting back in a deck chair by the pool. Curiously, Zatanna rolled over to him and tapped his shoulder.

"Um... hi," she said, her voice almost non-existent.

"Hey," he responded and opened his eyes.

"So... about earlier..." Zatanna trailed.

"Will you go out with me?"

Zatanna looked at him at his sudden interruption. Her heart was pounding at his question and her jaw nearly dropped. The only guys who had ever asked her out were boys trying to freeload off the fame she had from her tennis career. Nervously, she nodded and held her hand to her heart. Dick leaned back with a smile.

"Awesome," he said "As soon as we get back to St. Agnes' then?"

"S-Sure... that would... be great," Zatanna stammered.

Dick let out a chuckle before sitting up and stretching. He smiled at her and she found herself smiling back. In awkward delayed movements, he reached up to cup her cheek as she reached out to put her hands on the back of his neck. Zatanna's hesitant breaths caused her to gulp as she lost her breath repeatedly. Dick's hand slid to be behind her neck as he felt her nervous breaths.

"You wanna wait until a few more dates before our first real kiss?" he offered.

"Y-Yes, please... I've just... I've never been kissed before... never properly, anyway," Zatanna stammered "I've only had half-a-second kisses that some would think were platonic..."

Dick leaned back and gave her another smile before getting to his feet. He took hold of the handles of her wheelchair and pushed her towards the house. She leaned back and smiled a goofy grin at him.

"You wanna become lovers in Knights of the Realm?" she asked.

Dick chuckled.

"Speaking of KtR, you wanna go to Realm-Con with me?" he asked "It starts in a week in Los Angeles. A bunch of people in the chat rooms want to see me there since I'm one of the biggest players,"

Zatanna thought about it before nodding. She thought it would be fun to be the superstar's arm candy rather than the superstar.

"Do we have to dress up for it?" she asked, discouraged.

"Ha! Only if you want to! I usually just dress up in a way so people will recognize me as my character," Dick said as they entered the house again "I've got pictures from the last time I went, you wanna see?"

Zatanna nodded and he sat her down on the sofa. He ran off to get his laptop before sitting next to her and showing her. She found it cute and decided to wear a blue wig like her character's hair and make-up similar to Magic Mistress. Dick just put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. Their family was with them and were shocked (but not surprised) to see them both in such a way.


	17. Chapter 16: Realm-Con, Day 1: LA

**I have no idea about the made up geology of America from DC Comics or the real geology either (give me a break! I've never left England! Unless you count Scotland). So... I'm just gonna make it up as I go along...**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 16:

Realm-Con, Day #1:

L.A.

It took six hours by jet to get to Los Angeles but when they finally got there, Zatanna was so excited for Realm-Con. She mentioned this to Shauna while getting her wig strengthened with extra stitching and she made her a blue wig as a favour to her. Shauna never actually made a lot of money from her wigs since she hardly ever charged but she loved making people feel better. There was a knock on her hotel room door and Dick with Diana entered.

"Hey, Zee, you ready?" he asked.

"Almost. I got my make-up done. What do you think? Do I look like Magic Mistress?" Zatanna asked.

She had dark red eyeliner on with winged tips and a deep blue eyeshadow all around her eyes.

"Yeah, you look awesome!" Dick said "You want me to leave so you can change wigs? I know you're not ready for me to see you without one,"

Zatanna nodded in gratitude and he left to wait in the hallway. She looked back into the mirror and lifted her dirty-blonde wig off. She put it on its mannequin head before inspecting her head. There was some black fuzz from where her hair was growing back but it would be gone come her next chemo regimen. Diana helped her put on and adjust her blue wig. It had a braid going around her head with a gold hairband ending it behind her head.

"You really do look like your character," said Diana.

Zatanna smiled and took a tube of violet lipstick from her bag. She looked into the mirror to make sure she applied it right before rubbing her lips together and wheeling back. She rolled over to the bed and took her jacket that was the same colour as the cloak her character wore.

"Okay, I'm all good," Zatanna said, grinning.

"Not quite. You're forgetting the headband," Diana reminded her.

"Oh, hello, Zatanna! I totally forgot," she said and reached into her backpack for it.

It was just a gold headband to represent the tiara her character wore. Zatanna made sure she had everything she needed before they left her room and found Dick doing a handstand in the middle of the hallway for absolutely no reason.

* * *

Realm-Con was being held in a huge convention center with massive billboards advertising the event above the entrance. Zatanna held Dick's hand as Diana pushed her. Bruce had been with them (he wasn't going to let his terminally ill son travel across town on his own) but left to do business in his L.A office and so was Dick's annoyingly peppy nurse, Sally. Zatanna loved how Dick's costume was just a black hoodie with the bird emblem on the front and black face paint around his eyes in a vague bat shape. It looked like he didn't think about it very much but he had actually spent a while figuring it out. Zatanna hadn't been in a big crowd for a long time but she felt safe as long as Dick was with her.

As soon as they entered the building, they were met by the white noise of a crowd of people chattering. They went over to a guy dress like a knight at the sign-in table. After a complicated-y medieval introduction, he offered them the sign-in sheet. Dick took the clipboard and scribbled his name before passing it around the group. The sign-in guy gave them their visitor's passes to wear around their necks.

"Awesome, I love coming here," Dick said, still holding his date's hand.

Zatanna found herself awestruck when they entered to see all the decorations and costumes and merchandise all centered around Knights of the Realm. She gasped as she tried to take it all in at once. The first thing Dick wanted to do was sign-up for the gaming tournament to win the title of Lord (or Lady) of the Realm and get the cash prize and mystery prize for the game. Zatanna rolled her eyes as he darted off to find the sign-up with Sally running after him.

"So, where do you want to go?" Diana asked her.

"Um... I wanna look at merchandise," said Zatanna, looking at the program "According to this map, it's that way!"

Diana pushed her in that direction and along the many stalls selling different items.

* * *

Zatanna was looking at real-life versions of all the mystic stones when Dick reappeared beside her. Then, somehow, they became the center of attention! Apparently, word that a legendary player had entered the tournament had spread like wildfire and now anyone who recognized Dick's Nightwing emblem was staring.

"Uh... Dick? When you said you were a big player, what did you mean?" Zatanna asked.

"Oh, well, a monthly survey reveals the best KtR players and I'm one of them. You get powerful enough to appear on the sight, you're classed as a legendary player," Dick explained "Ha! I almost had a seizure at the sight of my username! Nightwing for the win!"

They were suddenly bombarded by excited fans and jealous rivals who wanted to know about god-mode. Dick kept a firm but gentle hold on Zatanna's hand as they tried to work their way through the crowd. She didn't know where they were going but she hoped they got their soon.

Dick flashed his visitor's ID at a velvet rope and they passed through the door. Down a short dark hallway, they found themselves in a lounge with a juice bar, computer stations and had an all around relaxed feel. Dick seemed to know everyone there and even hugged a few of them. Zatanna thought something was familiar about a boy and girl Dick seemed close to. The girl's cloak was similar to the ones for assassins and the boy wore ragged clothes like werewolves after they changed back. Then it hit her...

"Um... are you Crimson Mist and Silvermoon?" Zatanna asked them.

"You must be Magic Mistress. That's right, I'm Crimson Mist," said the girl "But my real name's Artemis Crock. This is my boyfriend, Silvermoon,"

"But my real name's Wally West," the boy interrupted "Us and Nightwing have been pals for years! Even before KtR came out,"

Artemis was absolutely gorgeous with tanned skin, crazy long golden hair in a ponytail and pointed stormy-grey eyes. Wally was a redhead with classic green eyes and freckles scattered on his cheeks. Zatanna felt a little left out on their conversations and inside jokes. Dick just took her hand in his and brought her in on subjects they all had in common. At one point Artemis tried to force Dick to give her Brimstone's elegance!


	18. Chap 17: Realm-Con, Day 2: Battle it Out

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 17:

Realm-Con, Day #2:

Battle it Out!

The next morning was the tournament. Dick got through the qualifying rounds easily and became the favourite to win. Wally and Artemis also got through and the three, being some of the biggest players, were taken aside by the managers of the event. This left Zatanna and Diana to wander the convention aimlessly. Dick had given her some cash and she'd bought a booklet on bonus spells and was looking at it as they went along.

"Hey, you want to get some food? The semi-finals don't start for another hour," said Diana.

"Uh, sure. I just want to check out getting my character this Realm-Con exclusive ice spell that comes with a souvenir wand. Looks pretty cool," Zatanna said.

As they continued in the direction of the food court, she felt a wave of fatigue pass over her and she slumped in her chair. Diana saw this and took her blanket out of her satchel. Zatanna wrapped her blanket around her as she began to shiver and she coughed. She felt like her hotel breakfast was coming back up and she covered her mouth. Diana knew what this meant and she looked around for something for Zatanna to puke into. Urgently, she pulled up a trash can and she vomited into it. People turned to stare at it when someone yelled that a free signing was going on.

The person who yelled turned out to be Dick, who lied to get everyone to leave. He rubbed Zatanna's back as she finished up and pushed the trash can away. Zatanna shivered at the side effects of her chemotherapy regimen. By the time they were to return to St. Agnes', her mid-regimen break would be over and she'd be pumped full of chemo.

"C'mon, Zee, let's get you a drink," Dick said to her.

He took her hand and stayed by her side all the way to the food court. Her hands shook as she held her glass but he helped her hold the glass. Zatanna was thankful to have someone who knew what it was like by her side. Dick offered to pull out of the tournament and go back to the hotel with her but she said he should stay.

* * *

This was how Zatanna found herself laying in bed at her hotel room and watching the tournament on the videogame channel. Diana was sitting next to her as they ate a bowl of popcorn together.

**"Hi and welcome to the Knights of the Realm Tournament final live from Realm-Con! I'm your host Cat Grant and, as expected, the three finalists are some of the highest ranked players out there!" **said the host and the camera pammed down to look at a decorative entrance **"Seems the first contestant is about to ever the ring! And it's... Wally West, the player behind the character Silvermoon!"**

Zatanna clapped for him as he walked to the podium. Then the camera turned to observe as Artemis came out as the second finalist. She felt giddy as she awaited Dick's entrance.

**"And now... for the guy some think of as the most powerful player, the guy who unlocked god-mode in the unhackable game, the guy, this kid... Dick Grayson! The player behind Nightwing!" **Grant exclaimed.

Zatanna clapped enthusiastically as Dick came out and walked up to the podium.

"Go, Dickie-bird!" she exclaimed and tossed some more popcorn into her mouth.

* * *

Dick was actually being administered anti-seizure medication through an IV bag under his shirt that had medical tape keeping the line going along his arm and to his wrist. With all the noise and flashing lights, the last thing he needed was another seizure.

**"The players will be using the latest gaming technology to control their characters on a virtual plain brought to you by Free-Fall Inc., the people who brought you Knights of the Realm!"** boomed the voice over the speakers.

The three finalists pulled on a control glove and attached sensors to it. On his spare hand, Dick pulled a leather glove on for better grip on the joystick. The hand with the control glove on was to be used for the keys while their spare hands were used on the joystick.

A loud horn went off and the game began. There was a screen above each of them that showed what was happening in the game. Almost instantly, Nightwing disappeared from sight and Crimson Mist swapped out her on-hand sword for a much more powerful one. She set off a smoke bomb and reappeared behind Silvermoon. Silvermoon lept back and set off a line of delayed-reaction claws that went off in recession and Crimson Mist used a shield to block. People were just trying to figure out where Nightwing had gone.

Dick's hand was skimming over the keys so it was obvious he was doing something. He was also muttering to himself as he moved his joystick. Then a smile came to his face as the two other finalists were about to sword fight. Nightwing suddenly shot out from amongst the trees and set off an extreme blast that dealt damage to his opponents' arms.

"Nice one, Grayson, but not good enough!" Artemis called to him over the stations "Try defeating my 7-Sword Wheel Attack!"

Crimson Mist drew two swords and seven more appeared around her. Dick hastily began a counterattack and set up a Triangle of Intangibility. The two attacks met in the middle and virtual dust was drawn up in the aftermath of the attacks. The dust cleared to show Crimson Mist and Nightwing on the ground. Wally was trying to figure out who to attack. Both characters began to get up with damage to their right arms. Dick went to the stats menu and changed Nightwing's dominant hand to left. As he did this, Silvermoon used Steel Claws and he took further damage.

"Not feeling the aster!" Dick whined.

Crimson Mist took the opportunity to attack Nightwing and hit him with a lightning sword. Things weren't looking good for him...


	19. Chap 18: RC2 A Different Kind of Battle

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 18:

Realm-Con, Day #2:

A Different Kind of Battle

A time-out was called and the finalists went their ways. Dick had worked up a sweat and the medical tape had lost its stick. Sally had to reattach his IV bag and advised him not to wear his hoodie while in hot and sweatie environments like a convention center. Because of this, the crowd was shocked to see a tube taped to Dick's arm when the break was over. He was pretty chilled about the exposure of his IV but people who didn't know him didn't understand.

**"Uh... concerning the tube on Dick Grayson's arm... It's an IV administering to him medication he needs so... pay no mind," ** said the commentator over the speakers.

Dick pulled the control glove on his right hand and pulled on his left-handed leather glove. There was a booming countdown when the game restarted. Nightwing just stood in the middle of the field. Wally and Artemis looked at each other then at Dick.

"Uh... Dude? The game's begun," Wally said.

"Oh, I know," said Dick with a grin.

Artemis narrowed her pointed eyes as she tried to figure out what he was thinking. Wally, being impulsive, got Silvermoon to charge at Nightwing. Silvermoon drew a Crescent-Moon Staff and was about to direct it at Nightwing. Dick's sly smile grew and he began using the controls. Nightwing pulled out a staff from his back and stabbed it into the ground. Ice formed all around him and Silvermoon's attack was directed right back at him.

"What?! You have the Staff of Reflective Ice?! I thought that was a rumor!" Wally exclaimed.

Silvermoon continued trying to attack him while Crimson Mist was looking for a way around it. Artemis looked at Dick to see where his eyes were looking to try to figure out what he was doing. Crimson Mist pulled her signature Celestial Bow and notched an arrow. The aiming software was extremely sensitive so it took a while to get it just right. It all happened in a flash. Nightwing attacked Silvermoon with a New Moon Disk at the same moment Crimson Mist released her arrow and Silvermoon let out a Wolf's Howl. The screen went red to indicate damage to all three players.

As the screens cleared to see who had survived or not, everyone was on edge. Steadily, Dick's screen began to clear up and Nightwing stood up. Artemis and Wally turned to look at him in shock. The room erupted at the realization Dick had won but he felt numb. He collapsed backwards and everyone screamed. His breathing ceased and his limbs jerked about, hitting his left fist so hard he broke several bones in his hand and wrist.

* * *

Dick blinked his eyes open as he came to. He was in a hospital bed in an ER; the only thing separating him from other patients were curtains pulled around him. He looked to see the clock said 3:30 p.m. and he tried to sit up.

"Whoa, easy there, kid, you just had a seizure and it was big," said a doctor, pushing apart the curtains to everything else.

"How long did it last?" Dick asked, his throat sore.

"About three minutes," said the doctor "You also broke your hand,"

Dick weakly lifted his left arm to see a cast around his palm and lower arm. He groaned and lay back.

"I don't even remember if I won the tournament or not..." he complained.

The doctor checked his chart before leaving and Dick managed to sit up. He looked to see he still had his IV going along his arm. He groaned and lay back down with his arms over his face. Dick searched his mind for the answer but he just couldn't remember if he won.

"D-Dick?"

He looked up to see Zatanna wheeling herself passed the curtain and to his bedside. She looked at him worriedly and he got himself sitting up.

"Hey, Zee, you okay?" Dick asked, his voice horse.

"Dick! You're the one who's in the ER! Why are you asking me if _I'm_ okay?" Zatanna exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

Dick looked at her with a stunned look. She couldn't keep back her tears and leaned on his bedside with her face in the sheets. Her forehead was on her arms as her fingers clutched the sheets. Dick put his hand over her usual dirty-blonde wig and began gently rubbing the back of her head.

"Zee... I'm sorry for worrying you... I was so worried about you... can you believe I sometimes forget we're ill?" he said, a slight smirk at the end.

Zatanna looked up at him and smiled as she leaned into his touch. Her cheeks were wet with tears and she sniffed.

"Are you... okay?" she asked him "Everyone's talking about what caused your seizure. Some think it was the lights at the convention center or the graphics of the game... Some even think it was the shock of winning..."

"Winning? I won?!" Dick exclaimed.

Zatanna sat up and looked at him with curiosity.

"You don't remember? They looked at the data and Nightwing survived by half a life point over Silvermoon and Crimson Mist. It was a mind blowing win," she told him.

Dick smiled and cheered. Zatanna smiled to see him acting like himself again. But he hadn't actually said if he was okay or not. She looked into his eyes to see the fear he never showed, the fear he never acknowledged, the fear... he refused.


	20. Chapter 19: Going Home

** I'm back! I am SO sorry for not updating but for some reason I couldn't create a new file to write in! I hope this chapter is worth it.**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 19:

Realm-Con, Day #3:

Going Home

Dick looked over at the clothes he had packed for the trip to L.A. and took his souvenir t-shirt from Realm-Con to pack away. Those three days had been eventful with him becoming the Knights of the Realm official champion but he was just happy to have seen Wally and Artemis again. There was a knock on his door and Zatanna came in with Diana.

"Hey, you've got to do that interview thing before we leave for the flight back to Gotham so you better hurry up," said Zatanna.

"Alright, I'll meet you downstairs in five," Dick said to her.

Zatanna and Diana left and he looked back at his packing. He decided to wear his souvenir t-shirt under his hooded jacket rather than the plain white one he was currently wearing. Plus it was easier to take off and felt more comfortable with the cast around his lower left arm.

* * *

Zatanna had switched back to her usual dirty-blonde wig with a pair of sunglasses as a headband wearing skinny jeans, flip-flops and a white t-shirt with the phrase "Let Them Eat Cake!" on it. It was sunny out and she had sunscreen on to prevent sunburn. The elevator doors opened and Dick came running over. His souvenir t-shirt was black and read "Power to the Realm!" and he had his hoodie over it.

"Hey, Birdie! Ready?" Zatanna asked him.

"Yeah, let's go," said Dick and took over pushing her.

Zatanna squinted in the sunlight and slid her sunglasses over her eyes. Dick sheltered his eyes with his hand before taking out his own shades and covered his eyes.

"Ha! You look good with shades!" Zatanna laughed, looking up at him.

Dick laughed as they got in the car to go to the convention center. She looked out the window at the sights as they sped passed. Her unofficial boyfriend took out his iPhone and took a picture of Zatanna smiling. Dick smiled at her before putting his phone away and putting his arm around her. The sunroof was open and the wind blew into their faces. Zatanna was cautious to keep her wig on straight.

"Usually I don't experience this sorta weather unless I'm in Miami!" Dick said, happily sitting back.

"Where haven't you been?" Zatanna asked him.

"Umm... Mars," he responded and got a laugh out of her.

He took his phone back out and took a selfie of them to post to FaceBook. They both had two FaceBook accounts. One by their real names that the media could easily find and secondary ones using aliases for real friends and family members. Dick posted the picture to his secondary account that was under the name "R.J Gray" (taken from his first two initials and the first half of his surname). Zatanna's fake name was "Tanna Tara" with just the "zah" sound of her name removed.

* * *

People were freaking out as the champion and his girl entered the convention center. Zatanna had her sunglasses in her hair like a headband by now and Dick still wore his. It was surprising how many girls were fangirling over Knights of the Realm. People were reaching out notepads for autographs and Zatanna remembered when people were doing so to her. She looked back at Dick and saw how he was pushing her with a broken hand.

"Dick, your hand's broken, I'll push myself," she said as she bapped his hands away.

Dick instantly began rubbing around his cast since it had actually been hurting to push Zatanna but took her hand with his unbroken one. Apparently, people began tweeting about the "blonde bombshell" accompanying the Knights of the Realm champion. Some didn't even recognize her as the girl dressed as Magic Mistress. Zatanna was forced to stay in the crowd (albeit as a VIP) while Dick was sent onstage to answer questions.

"Mr. Grayson! What do you have to say about the seizure you suffered from yesterday?" a reporter shouted.

**"Uh... no comment... my problems are my problems," **Dick said into the microphone.

Zatanna watched and listened as he dodged questions about his seizure and answered questions about his game play. Surprisingly, they asked him about the partner he'd taken named Magic Mistress. She found herself blushing as he praised his partner. Zatanna took out her phone and quickly typed a text to him.

**;) Ur doin gr8, Brd-E ~Zee**

She watched him as he discretely took the text and answered it.

**Pizza B4 the flite bak 2 Gotham? ~D.G**

Zatanna smiled as she responded with a yes. They both put their phones away and made eye contact with each other through the crowd.

* * *

After the press conference with the KtR champ and picking up a preordered custom pizza, they went to the airport and boarded the Wayne Industries company jet. Dick and Zatanna sat at a table to eat the pizza that was one half mushrooms and anchovies and one half pepperoni and garlic crust. Bruce opened the box and the delicious smell wafted up. They all hummed with pleasure and took a slice or two each. One bite and they were in heaven as the jet took off.

"Delicious!" Dick declared.

Everyone laughed but found his topping choices strange to say the least. Bruce was just glad he hadn't asked for garlic too, which he didn't do because they decided on garlic crust. They had some simple confections with them as in Pringles, sodas and pudding as well as breadsticks with dip.

"I haven't had decent pizza since I left Italy!" Zatanna exclaimed, happily eating her second slice.

"This comes from a pizza shop owned by an Italian family who immigrated to the United States so it's pretty authentic!" Dick said, somehow already on his third slice "I'm going to sleep well tonight!"

Zatanna laughed and smiled at him. The two of them were yet to go on a proper date but she was okay with that.


	21. Chapter 20: First Date

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 20:

First Date

When they returned to St. Agnes', the doctors immediately looked over them to make sure nothing in their condition had changed. Dr. John Jones, Dick's oncologist, insisted on an MRI to check on the tumors in his brain. Zatanna got to sit in the room with Dick as he lay down on the bed and moved into the machine. There was actually a charity ball for the hospital coming up and the patients were all invited. Apparently, if donors met the people their money would help, they were more likely to give.

"So..." said Zatanna "You want to go to that charity ball together? We could... classify it as our first date..."

"That ball's in a month, Zee, we'll probably go on our first date before then," Dick said from within the machine "But, yeah, I'd love to go with you,"

Zatanna smiled as they waited for Dr. Jones to give the all clear for Dick to come out. After a minute, he was let out and he sat up. He still had his black beanie on as he, like Zatanna, was cautious about his head since it was covered with surgical scars. Dick hung his legs over the edge of the bed, leaned over and kissed Zatanna's cheek.

"You wanna go to the movies with me? I'll pay for overpriced popcorn!" he tempted her.

Zatanna laughed and nodded, taking his hands and rested her forehead on his. Dick chuckled and kissed her forehead. He stood up straight and went to change from his hospital scrubs to his everyday clothes (which patients had nicknamed their "civvies") before anything else. Zatanna grinned before rolling herself out of the room to change into more date-appropriate clothes.

* * *

Obviously, they were accompanied by a team of nurses to make sure they were fine. Zatanna had her wig in a high ponytail and wore a pair of cream three-quarter long trousers, a lavender t-shirt and a white fleece cardigan. On her feet were some plain white sneakers and she kept her precious satchel with her. Dick was buying a popcorn bucket and two large sodas as well as a pack of gummy bears. Since they were out of hospital, they both had heart monitors on their wrists and he had his IV bag of anticonvulsants hidden under his clothes.

He walked back over to his date and she offered to balance some of the snacks. Luckily, the wheelchair she was currently using had a cup holder that she put her soda in and she took the popcorn. Dick held his soda in the elbow of his arm with the broken hand and pushed her along with his free one.

"What are we seeing?" Zatanna asked, looking back at him.

"Big Hero 6," said Dick "It's an animation based off a Marvel comic,"

"How romantic for a first date," Zatanna said, sarcastically.

Dick laughed at her joke as they headed into the screening room. It was a big cinema with a flat area for paraplegic people to seat themselves in their chairs. They came to a stop in that area and Dick took the first seat next to it with Zatanna right next to him. She balanced the popcorn bucket on his seat arm and they both took a few pieces to eat. Zatanna looked around the cinema and saw the number of other people who had come to see the film. There were little kids with parents, elderly couples and even a scout group.

"Gummy bear, Zee?" Dick offered, quietly.

Zatanna took one and put it in her mouth. The curtains pulled away to reveal the movie screen followed by the warning to turn off their mobile devices. They both took out their cellphones and turned them off. The nurses who were stood on the edges of the cinema had cleared it with the staff to keep their pagers on for medical emergencies. Zatanna looked down at Dick's broken hand resting on the cinema seat armrest and gently slid her fingers with his. They looked at each other and smiled before looking back at the screen.

* * *

When the end credit scene finished, Dick got to his feet and pushed Zatanna along to the entrance. The nurses followed after them like bodyguards. He looked around at them before stopping and he walked around to face her.

"You know, sometimes I wish I could just bribe these nurses to leave us alone," he said.

"Why?" Zatanna asked, smiling at him.

"So there would be less of an audience when I do this..." Dick said.

He leaned down, took her face in his hands and kissed her. Straight on her lips, innocent and meaningful. Zatanna reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Yes, people looked but she felt like him and her were the only two people on Earth.

"Wow... now, _that's_ a first kiss," she stereotypically giggled.

"You're telling me. So, did I time it right?" Dick asked her.

Zatanna laughed and nodded. She was blushing from the publicity but suddenly took his broken hand and took a marker from her satchel. She moved his sleeve up and began scribbling on his cast. Dick looked down to see what she had written:

_ Let's go out again ;)_

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. A blush crept onto his cheeks as he reached into his pocket and took out a small box.

"Here, a gift for our first date," Dick said, nervous over whether she'd like it or not.

Zatanna opened the box and took out a Knights of the Realm keychain. She laughed and took her satchel into her arms.

"Bird-Brain! This is so... it's adorable! I love it!" she exclaimed, clipping it onto her satchel.

"Yeah, I figured out your bag is pretty much a timeline of your life so I got you something to mark our trip to Realm-Con," he said, smiling.

Zatanna smiled at him with tears in her eyes. She just had to find something to mark her friendship/relationship with Dick. Maybe a photo of them both? But, without a doubt, it was the perfect first date.

* * *

** SO ROMANTIC! If any of you have ideas for this story then review! I'd love to hear from you!**


	22. Chapter 21: Simple Fun

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 21:

Simple Fun

For Zatanna, it had been three weeks since she got her prognosis of seven months. That meant she had six months and a one week to live. A full two months longer than Dick. To add to it, Dick was expected to pass away by December and wasn't expected to survive to his 17th birthday; December 1st. But for her, well, it was the 15th of August... her birthday.

Zatanna sat in her bed; having taken a turn for the worse, she didn't get out of bed as much. Especially since she became sensitive to sunlight and didn't enjoy going out during the day. Today was her 17th birthday but she didn't feel like celebrating. She had gotten some cards and Giovanni had tied birthday balloons to the foot of her bed but Zatanna just didn't feel well.

"Hey, Zee?" Dick said, entering her room "You good to talk?"

Zatanna nodded before taking her cup of water and having a drink. Dick walked over to her and sat on the foot of her bed with a small pale pink box tied with a white lace ribbon.

"Happy birthday," he said, gently.

Dick held it out to her and she took it in her thin fingers; Zatanna was definitely underweight from her treatments. She undid the ribbon and lifted the lid off; she gasped. Inside was a gold charm bracelet with roses made out of rose quartz. Zatanna took it out of its box and held it around her wrist.

"Oh, Dick! It's beautiful!" she cried "But... it better not be expensive! You know I don't like being spoiled,"

"I know but I figured an exception was needed for your birthday. The chain's only gold plated but the rose quartz are real," Dick said, crossing his legs "You mad at me? I got it because it made me think of the rose I got you,"

They both looked over at the windowsill where the flower bloomed. Since her prognosis, Zatanna had been moved to the terminal ward where doctors were more on hand. She looked over at Dick, reached out and took his hand.

"I love it... thank you," she said to him with tears in her eyes.

Dick smiled at her before turning on the bed to look at her balloons. He pulled one down and untied the end before sucking the helium out. Zatanna watched him until he took the end out of his mouth.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Zatanna, happy birthday to you!" he sang in a squeaky voice.

Zatanna laughed at his high voice and he continued to make funny noises with his voice to entertain her. She was practically crying from laughter by the time the helium wore off.

"Oh, Dick, you can always make me smile," she chuckled.

Dick smiled at her as she pulled her legs out from under her blanket and crossed them. Zatanna tried to put the bracelet on herself but found the clasp hard to do one-handed. Dick reached over and did the clasp around her wrist for her. She smiled at it and held it up. She wore it around her right wrist since her heart monitor was around her left wrist.

"Hey, you want to have some plain and simple fun?" Dick offered.

"Dick... I'm tired..." Zatanna said.

"Trust me. It won't be exhausting and we won't even leave the hospital grounds," he assured her.

Zatanna sighed with a smile and nodded. She pulled her fleece on over her pyjamas and Dick lifted her into her wheelchair. She put on some slippers before carefully placing her feet on the wheelchair's foot peddles. Dick leaned down to kiss the top of her head and pushed her out of her room. He didn't mention it to Zatanna but Dick always found it sad that they put all the terminal children and teenagers in one place. The only reason he didn't stay there was because he had a reserved room while Zatanna was on the hospital list.

* * *

Dick pushed her out to the hospital gardens in the midst of the night. Diana was following behind them but kept her distance. Zatanna didn't know the gardens very well and didn't recognize the path Dick was taking her. He undid the latch to a gate and pushed her through. Zatanna gasped at the sight of beautiful ivy growing up a white wooden frame with lights strung around the roof. Where the frame met in the middle hung a tire swing strung up with three chains. She was skeptical of the swing until Dick picked her up in his arms and carefully slid her legs into the tire. He sat her down before going around the outside and sitting oppose to her.

Zatanna took hold of the chains and looked at him. He smiled at her and gently made the swing move by pushing against the ground with the toe of his sneaker. She found herself smiling and she tried to get the swing moving herself. Dick got the message and made the swing move even more. The ground was compact rubber shavings so Zatanna wasn't afraid of falling off. She found herself laughing as they swung just from the simplicity of it. It was just so simply fun...

After a while, they relaxed and Dick held Zatanna in his arms as he lay across the tire swing. They'd turned off the lights so they could see the few stars visible in a city. Zatanna was curled up in a little ball with Dick holding her with one arm while staying up in the swing with his other.

"Thank you... this is the best birthday I've had since my diagnosis," she said, sighing "How come St. Agnes Memorial Hospital has a tire swing?"

When Dick didn't answer, she looked up at him to see his face. He seemed in pain for some reason. She leaned up and gave him a proper look.

"It... was for my brother," he said.

"You have a sister," Zatanna said, sliding from his embrace to be sitting on the tire swing.

Dick sat up and looked away at a plaque she hadn't noticed because of the overgrown ivy. It read:

**Jason Peter Todd-Wayne**

**2004-2016**

"Like me... Jason was adopted. He also had some phenomenal anger issues. Last year, before I turned 16, we were in a car accident. I escaped with minor injuries; my tumors weren't aggravated because I hit the soft back of a car seat but Jason..." Dick took a deep breath "He was sitting in the front, no seatbelt and with his feet on the dashboard even though Bruce told him not to... when we crashed..." he sniffed "Jason was... thrown through the windscreen,"

Zatanna gasped and covered her mouth. She had already figured out that if Jason had been born in 2004 and died in 2016 then he must have been between 11 and 12 (depending if he had his birthday). Dick looked up at the stars before looking about the frame of the tire swing.

"He wasn't killed instantaneously... He was taken to hospital and sent into surgery. Jase suffered brain damage and lost some mobility... but he lived long enough for Bruce to commission this tire swing just like the one he played on in the park by our house," Dick said, tears in his eyes "But... after a month... Jase succumbed to his injuries and died... he was only 12, that's too young... that's..."

Dick slid off the tire swing and fell to his knees with tears running down his face. Zatanna leaned over to him on the tire swing and gently managed to slide off the tire swing. She carefully went down to her knees and leaned onto her front to army crawl over to him. She moved one arm over the other and stopped next to him before pulling herself into a sitting position. Zatanna took his hand and he looked at her.

"12... that's too young to die..." Dick said and he put his hand to his beanie "Jase got me this beanie after they had to shave my head for my first surgery..."

He clawed at the black wool of his beanie and pulled it off. Zatanna was taken back by this as she hadn't seen him without his hat. His head was covered in tuffs of raven-black hair and alarmingly fresh pink scars on the back of his head. Dick looked at his beanie and discarded it. He curled up and rested his head on his knees. Zatanna retrieved his beanie, took his hand and made him look at her.

"You're cute," she said, smiling "You know... girls find scars hot,"

Dick chuckled, leaned down and kissed her. She suddenly pushed him away and he looked at her with bewilderment.

"I've seen you without a hat... now it's my turn to show you," she said.

"Zatanna! You don't have to..." Dick stammered.

Zatanna put her finger to his lips before pulling her legs into a crossing position. With a deep breath, she slid her fingers under her wig and steadily pulled it off. She screwed her eyes shut in nerves and waited for his reaction. Just as she was about to peek at his expression, Dick kissed her and cupped her face in his hands.

"You... you still like me?" Zatanna stammered in shock.

"Zee... you're beautiful," he said "Did I really seem so shallow?"

"No! I-I'm just really superficial!" she exclaimed.

Dick snorted before bursting out into laughter. Zatanna blushed but he kissed her forehead as she pouted.

"Ah, you're cute when you're pouting," he chuckled "So, good birthday?"

Zatanna smiled as she gave in and laughed with him. She nodded and kissed him before he lifted her into her wheelchair. She pulled her wig back on, passed him his beanie and looked at her bracelet. It was beautiful... she loved it.


	23. Chapter 22: Charity

** Time to Live:**

**Dick: 3 months and 2 week.**

**Zatanna: 5 months and 2 weeks.**

**Dick and Zatanna have been dating for 6 weeks (1 month and 2 weeks).**

_**A sad countdown, yes, but it'll help me keep track of the time progression. If there are inconsistencies then feel free the tell me!**_

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 22:

Charity

Zatanna had chosen to wear a soft pale yellow dress with a black bolaro jacket with short sleeves, white tights and black flats with yellow bows on the ends. She was actually pretty excited for the charity ball, especially with her unofficial boyfriend for the past six weeks as her date. Seeing Dick in a tux was adorable and she playfully teased him for the rose in his lapel. It had gotten out that Dick Grayson, terminal son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, had a girlfriend but they didn't let that faze them. Zatanna held her black beaded clutch perse in her lap as Dick pushed her up the ramp to the entrance of the Fairview Hotel where the charity ball was being held. They had to go along the side for the wheelchair ramp but that meant the press hadn't seen them so it was a good thing.

Zatanna gasped at the majesty of the ballroom with 50 ft. ceilings and a giant crystal chandelier. She felt like she had fallen into the tale of Cinderella and she even had her own handsome "prince" to boot! Dick kissed her cheek before saying he'd go get them some punch so she was left alone for the time being. She recognized some of the people there as patients, nurses and doctors at St. Agnes'. Others were rich people who would hopefully donate to the hospital.

"So, having a good time?" a young woman asked.

She wreaked of cheap perfume and her dress was the most obvious knock-off ever. Zatanna saw a recorder in the woman's purse and she figured out this woman was a reporter. She kept the woman occupied with meaningless small talk until Dick came back with two cups of punch.

"Here you go, Zee," he said then noticed the woman "Hello, I'm Dick. This is Zatanna, my date,"

"Zatanna? Dick? What're your last names?" the woman asked.

"I'm Dick Grayson. This is Zatanna Zatara," Dick said, putting his hand on his date's shoulder.

"Zatanna _Zatara, _eh?" the woman said but there was something about her tone "Huh, well, have a good time,"

Zatanna felt worried by this encounter with the press and she took Dick's hand. They both sipped their drinks when a waiter came and offered them hors-d'oeuvres. Dick politely declined before pushing Zatanna along. They greeted people they knew from St. Agnes' and politely welcomed hopeful donors.

"My rose bracelet matches my outfit perfectly," she said, looking at her birthday present "This was a great birthday present, Dickie-bird,"

"Your birthday was weeks ago, Zee. You're still giddy about it?" Dick asked her, chuckling.

"Hey, no one's ever given me such a nice gift," Zatanna said, watching it shine in the light.

Dick couldn't help but lean down and kiss the top of her head. He just found it adorable when she occasionally acted so childishly. Zatanna put on a smile and leaned back in her chair.

"The speeches and stuff will be starting soon so you want to get a seat?" Dick asked.

"Yeah. Let's get a good seat," Zatanna said.

Dick pushed her towards the round tables and moved a chair away for her to park her wheelchair. There weren't any placemarkers so you could sit anywhere you liked. A little boy who was bald from chemotherapy came running up to them with his mother.

"Hi, Dick! Hi, Zatanna!" he said "Can me and Mommy sit with you?"

"Of course, Billy, we'd be happy if you did," Zatanna said, smiling at him.

Billy and his mother sat down with them and he began nibbling breadsticks. Bruce and Selina with Helena came over and joined them at their table. The more "high society" people were annoyed at not being put first above the less rich guests which was ridiculous because the other guests were ill (some terminally so).

"Having fun, kids?" Bruce asked them.

"Yeah, as long as no one makes any harsh comments on someone's condition then this evening's a success," said Dick, taking a bite from a breadstick.

"When's the video and speeches and such starting? 'Cause I could eat a horse and the food doesn't start 'til the presentation," Zatanna asked, playfully complaining to Dick.

Bruce had disappeared off to start the presentation and everyone found a seat. The presentation was to begin and Bruce appeared on the stage set up. Waiters came around and served the first course. Bruce tapped the microphone and addressed the guests.

**"Hello and welcome to our charity fundraiser. As we all know, what we're here to do is earn the money for buying patients better personal items like wigs for chemo patients, or wheelchairs for the parapeligic. St. Agnes' has the best medical equipment but it's sadly lacking in supplying its patients with needed personal things," **he said, somehow making eye contact with all of the guests **"So, now, I'd like to start the proceedings with a video of the inner workings of St. Agnes,"**

He gestured to the screen next to him and clapped as he walked off stage with everyone else. The lights darkened and the screen turned on to shots of the St. Agnes hallways.

**"This is the residential pediatric ward of Gotham's very own St. Agnes Memorial Hospital. This is where residential patients under the age of 18 stay," **said the narration done by Dr. Lance.

The video featured three patients who agreed to be in it. Billy excitedly jumped up when he appeared on screen.

**"This is Billy Rangers, he's 7-years-old and has had ****leukaemia**** since he was 5," **

* * *

As the ball was finishing, Dick took Zatanna out for some air and they admired the hotel's fountain. Bruce and Selina were watching from the window but had agreed to be out of earshot. There were coins in the bottom of the fountain and Dick gave her a coin to make a wish. Zatanna thought about her wish before making it.

"I wish... to have more time to be with Dick than 3 and a half months," she said with tears in the corners of her eyes.

Zatanna flicked the coin and watched it land in the water. Dick looked at his coin as he decided on what to wish for. He sat down on the edge of the fountain to be at eye level with Zatanna and he took her hand.

"I wish... for Zatanna Zatara to be my girlfriend," he said and tossed the coin.

Zatanna was stunned as she watched him flick the coin into the air and splash into the water. Dick turned back to look at her and took both of her hands in his.

"Zatanna... Will you go steady with me? I know it's old fashioned to ask but we've been dating for almost two months and I'd just like to know where we stand-"

His monologue was cut short by Zatanna crashing herself into him and kissing him. She'd thrown herself out of her wheelchair so Dick had to awkwardly sit her next to him on the rim of the fountain. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped her arms around her waist.

"So... is that a yes?" Dick asked her.

Zatanna laughed with tears of joy in her eyes and she nodded.

"Yes! Yes, I'll be your girlfriend! Yes!" she cried.


	24. Chapter 23: Revealed Pasts

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 23:

Revealed Pasts

_...The next morning..._

Dick and Zatanna were close before but now that they were truly official... they were inseparable. They were in the patient's lounge as they waited for the news report on the charity ball to come on. In the meantime, Dick was tickling Zatanna until she squealed.

"Dick! Stop it!" she laughed, hysterically.

"Nope! You're my girlfriend now so that means I have to make sure you're smiling all the time!" Dick laughed.

Zatanna couldn't help but shriek in laughter and it made everyone else in the lounge pirk up a bit. She grabbed a pillow and hit Dick with it to get him to stop tickling her. They were both chuckling as she sat up and cuddled up to him. Zatanna rested her head on his shoulder and he smiled down at her with his arms around her shoulders. They both looked to the T.V as the news report came on.

**"Hello and welcome to Gotham City News. I'm Vicki Vale and today we'll be talking about the charity ball held by Wayne Industries to raise money for St. Agnes Memorial Hospital. I managed to get in to have a poke around and I encountered the mysterious girl, nicknamed "the Blonde Bombshell" on Twitter, who's been seen with Dick Grayson over the past month. After a short conversation, Mr. Grayson finally introduced her to me as none other than Zatanna Zatara!"**

Zatanna felt her heart stop as she recognized Vale as the woman from the night before. She held her breath at the way she was introduced as "none other than" Zatanna Zatara. She couldn't have... could she?

**"About two years ago I was a sports writer reporting on the world of professional tennis. A name that often came up was Zatanna Zatara, an Italian player who was at an Olympic level by the time she was 15! But, after breaking her knee during a match against America, Miss Zatara disappeared from the tennis scene and hasn't been seen since. Until last night, that is! Here's a picture of Grayson's girlfriend," ** an image of Zatanna the night before appeared in the corner of the screen **"and here's a picture of the Italian tennis superstar from when she was featured in Star Athletes Magazine at the age of 15," ** the headshot turned up next to the image of Zatanna **"Zatara's grown over the past two years and she's gone blonde on us but that is definitely Zatanna Zatara. What I want to know is, what happened to her?!"**

Zatanna was horrified at the exposure of her past. She fearfully looked to Dick to see a stunned (but not surprised) look on his face. He looked at her and she felt her stomach go into knots as tears formed.

"So, you really are _ that _Zatanna Zatara?" he asked "Not surprising, I thought you looked too alike to be a coincidence,"

"You... you already... knew?" Zatanna cried "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU KNEW?!"

"Whoa, Zatanna, I didn't tell you because I wanted you to tell me yourself! I thought your name sounded familiar so I Googled it and I found your Wikipedia page," Dick tried to explain.

Zatanna cried out and hit him with a pillow to keep him away. How could he not tell her he already knew? She had been freaking out about how to tell him! And he already knew?! Zatanna slid herself off the sofa and into her wheelchair before pushing herself along.

"Zatanna!" Dick exclaimed, jumping over the back of the sofa to try to stop her.

Zatanna rolled out the door before he reached her and when he looked out to try to spot her, she had disappeared into the busy hallway. He walked out to try to spot her but she was completely obscured by all the people going about their business.

* * *

Zatanna sat at a table in the café with her head in her arms. Her dirty-blonde wig spread out around her as she hunched over to cry. She should have known it was too good to be true. Someone was bound to recognize her eventually; that was inevitable. Zatanna screwed her blue eyes shut as tears seeped out and was absorbed by the fleece of the cardigan. She looked up and pulled her sleeve back to look at the rose quartz bracelet Dick had gotten her for her 17th birthday. She undid the clasps and took it off to look at it between her fingers.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew, Dick?" Zatanna said, looking at the way the light reflected off the gold.

"Pretty bracelet, your boyfriend give it to you?"

Zatanna turned around to see someone with a press badge and a visitor's badge on. She didn't like the look of him...

"Uh... I don't know you..." she said and tried to wheel away from him.

The reporter grabbed the handle of her wheelchair to stop her.

"I'm with the Gotham Weekly and I want to ask you some questions," he said.

"I don't care!" Zatanna shouted "Let go!"

He groaned.

"I wouldn't even be here but all anyone's talking about is some washed up tennis player dating a kid who's got one foot in the grave!" the reporter complained.

Zatanna felt rage burn within her and she turned to look at him. No one knew it but she kept a combat baton hidden in the wheelchair she used. She took hold of its handle and whipped it out, its end poking into the reporter's stomach.

"I said... let go," she hissed.

"And if I don't...?" the reporter said.

Zatanna gritted her teeth and was about to break the man's wrist with her combat baton when the reporter was suddenly pulled back. There was an arm around his neck and he was thrown back and rolled to his front with Dick pinning him down. He pulled his arm from around the reporter's neck and pinned one arm above his head and the other between his shoulder blades.

"She said to leave her alone," Dick hissed at him "Or do I have to break your wrist?"

"This is assault!" the reporter declared.

"_Aggravated_ assault because you were _harassing_ my girlfriend!" Dick said, putting pressure onto the reporter's joints.

Zatanna watched in amazement as hospital staff pulled Dick away from the reporter. Security gave the reporter a warning never to come back before kicking him out. Dick went to Zatanna and knelt down before her.

"Zee, are you okay?" he asked "Listen, I'm sorry for looking you up but the moment I found out what you used to do I realized why you didn't want to talk about it. I decided to keep my mouth shut until _you_ were ready to tell me. I'm so sorry and I hope you don't break-up with me because I care about you so mu-"

Zatanna grabbed his jacket and pulled him forward, crashing her lips against his. Dick cupped her face in his hands and kissed her back.

"Thank you... I could only defend myself so much... thank you for finishing it for me," Zatanna said, gently pulling away.

Dick smiled at her and they hugged each other. She buried her head into his shoulder with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Zatanna and Dick sat in the tire swing that they had become prone to hanging out on. They both felt it was time they told each other the truth of their pasts. Zatanna was going first since her past was now all over the media.

"After my mother died of osteosarcoma stage III when I was 5, my uncle gave me a tennis racket later that year on my 6th birthday. I was really upset about my mom's death so Uncle Giorg thought a hobby would be good for me," Zatanna began, holding onto the chains of the tire swing "I joined a local team for under 10-year-olds and things took off from there. When I was 11, I was practicing at the closest tennis court to my house where April Williams saw me. She was a tennis coach and manager for the Italian tennis team and she said I had potential. My dad and Uncle Giorg nearly went broke paying for everything I needed but I made it onto the team by the time I was 12..." she took a breath as she paused for a second "When I was 15, I was playing against America when I dived to stop the ball from going out of bounds. I shattered my right knee so hard that... well..."

Zatanna leaned down and rolled her jeans leg up to reveal several scars on her knee. She rolled her jeans leg back down and took hold of the tire swing chains again.

"...and you were diagnosed?" Dick said.

"Yeah... my X-Rays came back to reveal bone tumors around my knee and they took a biopsy to test..." Zatanna bit her lower lip "and that's when I found out,"

Dick reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. They smiled at each other before Dick began telling his story.

"I was born and raised in Haly's International Travelling Circus where my family and I perform acrobatics on the trapeze as the amazing Flying Graysons," he said "When I was 9-years-old, the circus came to Gotham where a mobster tried to extort money from the ringmaster, Jack Haly. I watched in hiding as they threatened the lives of the performers... that night, the show was going to end with my family performing one of the most dangerous stunts in the world... My dad wouldn't let me take part because I was only 9 and, it was during our signature trick that..."

Zatanna reached out and put her hand on his knee.

"Take as much time as you need," she told him.

"The mobster had sabotaged the trapeze lines with acid. With my mom, dad, uncle, aunt _and_ cousin on a single one... it broke..." Dick stopped as the memory of the crowd gasping replayed in his mind "I saw them fall..."

"What about the safety net?" Zatanna asked, her heart pounding for him.

Dick looked down at his sneakers before answering. He held the tire swing chains so tightly that his knuckles went white.

"We were known for not performing with one... I say 'we' when my dad always had one installed while _I _ was performing..." he said "I still remember the look of fear on my mother's face as she fell... She was reaching out to me... and... she... she said my name..."

Dick slid off the tire swing and curled up on the ground. Zatanna looked down at him and managed to slide off without hurting herself. She pried his arms away from his face and saw tears running down his cheeks. She wrapped her arms around his curled up form and leaned over him. Dick hugged her and buried his head into her shoulder as he cried.


	25. Chapter 24: Great News!

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 3 months and 1 week.**

**Zatanna: 5 months and 1 week.**

**Dick and Zatanna have been dating 7 weeks (1 month and 3 weeks).**

_** Their deadlines are coming up and it pulls at my heartstrings.**_

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 24:

Great News!

Zatanna was happily sitting back in her wheelchair as Dick pushed her through the hallways of St. Agnes'. She turned back to look at him and saw a look of exhaustion on his face. He fell to his knees and began to pant. It wasn't that he'd been pushing her around for long, he'd only just gotten her from her room.

"Dick, are you okay?" Zatanna asked.

"I'm... find... Zee," he gasped "Just... feeling... fatigued..."

"Then you should be in bed! C'mon, I'll accompany you to your room!" Zatanna exclaimed.

Dick weakly pushed himself to his feet and she took hold of his hand to lead him. She looked back at him and noticed he had a rash developing on his arm. That made her think... Zatanna had seen him drinking more, eating less and now he was tired. A rash, loss of appetite, dry mouth and tiredness; all side-effects of chemotherapy. Now that she thought about it, this wasn't the first time she'd seen something like this with him. Dick had never complained or mentioned anything...

Zatanna came to a stop, turned her chair around and yanked his sleeve up his arm to reveal the rash. She looked critically at it before looking up at him.

"Dick... why have you been ignoring your chemotherapy side-effects?" she asked, looking at him sternly.

"I..." Dick stammered and he moved his sleeve back down his arm "I didn't want you or anyone to worry..."

"Dick! You've got to tell someone! If you don't, things will just get even worse," Zatanna said, taking his hands in hers "Please, you don't have to be brave around me. I'm your girlfriend and I care about you. So, please, tell people about your side-effects so that they don't become worse than your condition,"

Dick looked at her and gave her a small smile. He slid his fingers between hers and the two of them held hands on the middle of the hallway. Dick was still tired so Zatanna turned her chair back in the direction of his room. As they moved onwards to go on their way, they suddenly heard:

"LOOK OUT!"

There was the rattling of a medical trolley and, before they could even look in the direction of the shout, they were hit by a tall medical trolley. Pill bottles were scattered across the floor and the medical trolley hit the ground. Dick, his head killing him, leaned up and got to his hands and knees. He coughed and rubbed his nose to see blood on his hand; he had a nosebleed.

"Zee, you okay?" Dick groaned, turning to look at his girlfriend.

Zatanna was unconscious with the medical trolley on top of her. Her wheelchair was still beneath her but she was on her side in it. Her wig was falling off her head but still on her head. Dick scrambled to her and instantly pulled the medical trolley off of her.

"Zee! Zee, open your eyes!" he exclaimed.

Zatanna moaned and he pulled her onto his lap. Dick kicked the wheelchair away from her and her legs flopped to the floor. She groaned and lifted her fingers to her head where there was blood. Zatanna looked up at Dick with her eyes barely a squint.

"D... Dick..." she whimpered.

* * *

Dick was giving an aspirin and cotton wool up his nose. Doctors had checked him out to see he was just fine. Zatanna, on the other hand, was in a much worse state. She had a concussion from hitting the floor and her osteosarcoma had made her bones brittle so when she hit the ground... the force broke both of her femurs. At least she had regained consciousness.

"Don't go anywhere?" Zatanna asked her boyfriend, keeping hold of his hand.

"Of course, I'll be right here," Dick said to her.

She was sent into the MRI so the doctors could get a look at the breaks. Zatanna obviously had to take off her rose quartz bracelet since MRI's were magnetic. Dick gently rubbed his thumb over her forehead in a calming motion and Zatanna relaxed.

"You're the best, Dick," she said, her eyes closed from the reaction to the simple forehead massage.

"Thanks and you're the most beautiful," he told her "Here's a little secret, I mean it too,"

Zatanna chuckled and remained still until the MRI was complete. As she came out of the machine she smiled up at Dick and he smiled down at her. He had to leave her, sadly, because it had been 6 weeks since he broke his hand during Realm-Con and today was the day he was getting his cast off.

* * *

Zatanna lay, completely immobilized in her bed, with her legs both completely sealed with cast and hung above her bed. Apparently, the impact of the fall had minimally fractured her left femur while shattering her right femur on impact with the floor. One thing was for sure and that was that she was incredibly board as she flicked through the channels of the hospital T.V in her room. Zatanna was still flicking through the channels when Dick came into her room.

"Hey, I've got my cast off! Now my left hand's free!" he declared "You want me to sign your casts?"

"Go ahead," said Zatanna, passing him a pen.

Dick pulled the lid off and stuck it to the end of the marker. He knelt on her bed for a better angle and began to write.

_Dear Zee, feel better soon! :]_

"There you go. Now, do as the cast says and feel better," Dick said, sitting down on the mattress and crossing his legs "By the way, the hospital called your dad so he's gonna be here in three... two... one..."

Giovanni suddenly burst in and ran to his daughter's bedside. He collapsed beside her and hugged her.

"Oh, Zatanna! My precious child!" he exclaimed "Are you okay?"

"Dad, I'm fine. The doctors gave me pain killers and they said the breaks were surprisingly clean for someone with stage II Osteosarcoma," Zatanna said, hugging him back.

Giovanni had broken down after his daughter's prognosis and had been fading in and out of reality. No one was sure he'd be able to survive the death of his daughter after the death of his wife. Zatanna smiled at him and remembered she still had to put her rose quartz bracelet back on. Giovanni was helping her do the clasp when Dr. Jones, resident oncologist, came bursting in. He was phrantic with an armfull of files, papers and documents.

"Mr. Zatara! You're here! As well as you, Mr. Grayson, good to see you've got your cast off!" Dr. Jones blabbered on "I've got news! Big news! Hopefully good!"

He looked through his armfull of papers and pulled out two MRI's of her legs. He passed them to her and dropped the other papers.

"What is it, Dr. Jones?" Dick asked.

"This is from the MRI seven weeks ago," said Dr. Jones "But this one is from only a few hours ago! Now, you can see on the MRI from seven weeks ago that your bone tumors are more prominent,"

Zatanna held the MRI to the light so they could see it better.

"But on your MRI today, they've actually gotten smaller!" Dr. Jones exclaimed, pointing at the other MRI.

Zatanna held it up and compared the two. They squinted to try to see the difference.

"Oh, yeah! There!" Dick said, pointing at one in particular.

"Wait, my bone tumors are getting smaller?" Zatanna asked the oncologist.

Dr. Jones searched through the papers on the floor and gave a pile of them to Giovanni. He stood up straight and began explaining things no one understood.

"Basically," Dr. Jones said "With continued chemotherapy and the amputation of Zatanna's lower right leg just below her knee and a knee transplant, I think Zatanna could live,"

"You mean longer than five months?!" Zatanna exclaimed "But why'd you gotta amputate my leg?"

"Not all of your leg. The cancer isn't receding in your tibia and fibula so, without amputation, you may relapse," Dr. Jones explained "The knee transplant is because your non-receding bone tumors go up into your knee. I'd prefer to wait 'til your legs heal but you may not have time,"

Zatanna looked at her father then at Dick. They both had shocked expressions on their faces at the news. Zatanna suddenly cried out in joy and covered her mouth as tears of joy ran down her face. She couldn't believe it... she may actually live!


	26. Chapter 25: Two Month Anniversary

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 3 months.**

**Zatanna: 5 months (unless the new treatment works out).**

**Dick and Zatanna have been dating for 2 months straight.**

_**It has since become September in the story.**_

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 25:

Two Month Anniversary

Zatanna scrolled down the screen of her laptop as she did research on the operations Dr. Jones wanted to perform on her right leg. It didn't seem like adjusting to a fake leg would be so hard compared to the rest of it. To make sure she really was in remission, they'd taken samples from her tumors for biopsy during an operation to put bone grafts in to fix her broken femurs. But, she really didn't want to be thinking about this as she had a dinner date with her boyfriend.

"Well, hello there, Most Beautiful Woman in the Whole Dang World," said Dick when he entered her room.

Zatanna had since been moved back to her room in the residential ward rather than the terminal ward. She was quite pleased with the outfit she had chosen. She wore a black jumper over a red buttoned up shirt, black miniskirt, grey tights and black leather boots up to her knees. Zatanna's dirty-blonde wig's top layer was pulled into a loose bun thanks to Shauna and had little plaits along the side of her head. She wore her rose quartz bracelet and had taken her mother's locket from its safety deposit box because it matched her bracelet just right.

"Hey, Bird-Brain!" Zatanna exclaimed, rolling herself over "I know boys aren't into make-up but check out the crazy nails Diana did for me!"

She wiggled her fingers at him to show off the red-and-black tiger stripes on her nails before picking up her satchel. Her satchel now had a photograph of herself and Dick on it framed with fabric paint with the words "First Love" painted on the top. They had a laugh over it when she put it on there.

"You look completely beautiful, Zee," Dick said and he leaned down to give her a kiss "Now, you ready to leave on a date for our two month anniversary,"

"Yep!" Zatanna said, excitedly.

He took her hand and they left her room for their date.

* * *

It was quite strange going through the hospital dressed for a date when they weren't even leaving the grounds. Zatanna didn't care, though, because she had the cutest date she could want. Heck, some other ill teenaged girls were jealous of (but happy for) Zatanna getting such a man.

"So, what are we doing?" she asked her boyfriend.

"Welp..." said Dick, popping the 'p' sound "You'll just have to wait and see,"

He gave her a sly grin and Zatanna 'humphed' in response. But she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Dick led her out to the hospital gardens and in the direction of the picnic area. Zatanna gasped at the sight of a picnic blanket with a grouping of candles at each corner. In the middle of the blanket was a picnic basket with the smell of cannolis wafting over to her.

"Oh, Dick! This is just... this is just beautiful! A-plus!" she declared.

Dick chuckled and helped her to sit down on the blanket before he opened the picnic basket. They happily dug in with Zatanna joyfully crunching on a cannoli. Dick looked at her and smiled as she got a blob of cannoli cream on her skirt. He reached into the bottom of the picnic basket and pulled out a square pale pink box with a white lace ribbon similar to the box he gave her on her birthday.

"Here you go. I was waiting for the right time to give you these and I admit they're more for a six month or a year anniversary but I wanted to see your face," Dick said, smiling at her as he passed her the box.

Zatanna carefully undid the bow and removed the lid. Inside were two stud earrings that looked like roses made out of rose quartz and set in gold. They matched her bracelet perfectly.

"Oh, Dick! They're beautiful!" Zatanna gasped "I've got to put these in,"

She fiddled to remove her current ear studs and put her new pair in. She smiled at Dick with thanks before leaning over to him and giving him a kiss.

"That's actually only one of two gifts," he said "But you'll have to wait a bit before I can show you the other,"

"Ooh! I'm intrigued," Zatanna said, grinning "Now it's my turn to give you your gift,"

She reached into her satchel and looked through the bits and bobs she had in there. Finally, she found what she was looking for and pulled out a red gift bag filled with black tissue paper.

"Tissue paper? My favourite!" Dick joked.

"Haha, just look inside," Zatanna said, rolling her eyes.

Dick reached into the tiny bag and grabbed what was in there. He pulled his hand out and opened his fist to see a bracelet made of plaited leather with the ends tied to a metal strip. On the metal was an engraving that was filled in with black paint. It read:

**Property of Zee**

"Aw, Zee, you got me something to brand me as yours. So sweet," Dick said, smiling at her "I love it,"

Zatanna smiled and gave him a hug. The bracelet was for two uses A) to warn other girls he had a girlfriend and B) as a joke. Dick slid it onto his wrist before getting to his feet.

"What's up, Dick?" Zatanna asked him.

"It's time for your second gift," he said and he picked her up bridal style.

* * *

Zatanna wrapped her arms around him as he carried her in the direction of the new hospital fountain. Dick carefully sat her on the edge of it and she looked in the see lilies floating on the water in the shape of her nickname: Zee.

"Oh, Dick, lilies in the shape of my name? Pretty romantic," she said.

"That's not it. The lights will go out in a second and then you'll see," said Dick and he smiled at her.

The lights went off and the water in the fountain glowed! Around the lilies was a blur of pink, silver and violet that glowed in the dark to illuminate her name.

"Dick, how did you?" Zatanna gasped.

"Well, Wayne Industries was working on an algae that could eat oil from spilled shipments in the ocean. I was looking over some numbers when I found out that if you left the algae in sunlight then it'll absorb it and glow in the dark. So, I did some splicing to make it attracted to lilies then I poured it into the fountain this morning for it to absorb sunlight and put the lilies in," Dick said, sucking in his bottom lip "Do you... like it?"

"You went against the forces of nature to splice together a two month anniversary present for me? I love it!" Zatanna exclaimed, crashing into him with a kiss.

* * *

**Hey, anyone else notice how they've both grown-up and changed over the course of this story? I planned some plot points for this story but I didn't plan that. BONUS!**


	27. Chapter 26: Surgery

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 2 months and 2 weeks.**

**Zatanna: 4 months and 2 weeks (depending on how her surgery goes).**

_**They've been dating for 2 months and two weeks.**_

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 26:

Surgery

Zatanna was starving but she couldn't eat anything for 12 hours leading up to her surgery because she needed to be put under for it. She looked down at her right leg and thought of how she'd never see it again. Dr. Jones had come in to draw some simple guidelines around her knee for the surgery but now it was just her and Diana.

"Diana... I want to see Dick before I go into the OR," Zatanna said "But he didn't come like he said,"

"He supposedly had a rough night last night so he isn't allowed to get out of bed," said Diana "You'll see him afterwards,"

"No, Diana! Take me to him! Please!" Zatanna insisted.

Diana sighed and gave in. She put Zatanna in her wheelchair and pushed her in the direction of Dick's room.

* * *

A rough night was an understatement. He had suffered from three different seizures, his throat was bone dry, his mouth was soar, his rash itched and he'd vomited continuously. As well as his usual chemotherapy, his IV was giving him a blood transfusion from a low red cell count. Dick looked a mess...

"Please, Dick, you've got to eat something," said Bruce.

Dick's family had come because the hospital had called them about his condition. Bruce sat next to him with Selina by his side and Helena on her mother's lap. There was a plate of food on the bed's table but Dick wasn't eating.

"Dickie... why aren't you eating your breakfast?" Helena asked her older brother.

Seeing the worry on his sister's face, Dick weakly picked up the spoon in his thin fingers and scooped up a spoonful of unappetizing hospital oatmeal. He steadily chewed it before swallowing and he had a drink of water. His family sighed with relief at his first mouthful of the day and tried to encourage him to keep eating. Then the door opened up and Zatanna came wheeling in.

"Hey, Diana told me you had a rough night," she said, rolling up to be beside him.

"It wasn't fun..." Dick said, his voice barely more than a croak "Aren't you supposed to be in surgery?"

"I wanted to see you first," Zatanna said, reaching out and taking his hand "You feel better, okay?"

"I'll be with you when you wake-up," he said, smiling at her.

Zatanna smiled back at him and they leaned towards each other to kiss. But, Bruce coughed and they leaned away. Dick whispered something into her ear and she grinned before nodding. He watched as Diana pushed Zatanna back out of his room and his family began trying to get him to eat again.

* * *

Zatanna lay in bed as they moved her to the OR. Her wig was off and she had a plastic cap over her head. Diana promised to take good care of her rose quartz bracelet while she was under. She had changed to the traditional hospital gown for the surgery and she disliked it because you could see her... back. Zatanna was nervous as they lay her bed all the way back in the OR and they moved all of the operating utensils closer.

"Relax, Zatanna, you're going to be fine," Diana promised "Look, I'm putting your bracelet in my apron so you know where it is, okay?"

"Okay, Diana," said Zatanna.

She looked down at her right leg and sighed. When she woke-up, she wouldn't have it anymore. An assisting nurse put the mask over Zatanna's mouth and told her to take three deep breaths.

One...

Two...

Three...

* * *

Zatanna wearily opened her eyes and groaned at how harsh the lights were. When the surgery started, it was 11:55 a.m. (she'd made special note of the time) and now... she wasn't sure. Her head lolled to the side and she saw it was night outside her window. There was beeping and people talking but it sounded like she was underwater. One thing that was for sure, though, was that she couldn't feel her right lower leg.

"Is she awake?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Zatanna? Can you hear us?"

"Don't yell, Zachary,"

"Give her a second,"

Zatanna moaned as she blinked her vision into focus and looked around her hospital room. There was her father, her uncle, her cousin and her nurse. But she was looking for one person in particular...

"Where's..." she sighed, heavily "Dick?"

Her company looked at each other before looking at her. Unnerved, Zatanna tried to force herself into a sitting position but they all instantly protested.

"He's... sleeping off another seizure..." said Diana "in the ICU..."

Zatanna nodded in understanding before looking at her father, who sat on a chair beside her bed. He looked at her with fear for her wellbeing.

"How did... the surgery... go?" she asked, taking in deep breaths.

"It went... according to plan," said Giovanni and he looked down her bed.

Zatanna took hold of her blanket and flicked it off her right side. She had a right thigh covered in bandages around the knee and... no more. She no longer had two legs but this meant she could go into remission. She could live! But, for one thing, she needed to see her boyfriend.

* * *

Dick was in the ICU after a severe seizure had drained him of his energy. He had barely eaten anything just because he had no appetite for it. He was upset at not being there for Zatanna but he didn't have the energy to stand. The door to his room opened and Zatanna came rolling in followed by a frantic Diana who wanted her to get back into bed.

"Dickie-bird!" she exclaimed, rolling up to his bedside.

"Hey... Zee... When did you wake-up?" Dick croaked.

Zatanna didn't answer. Instead she pulled him into leaning over the side of the hospital bed and kissed him. Dick kissed back before pushing her away.

"You... weren't there when I woke-up..." Zatanna said "but... I'm just happy you're okay now,"

Dick looked away from her before putting on a fake smile. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"So, how was your operation?" he asked.

"Um... do I look like I still have my leg?" Zatanna asked him with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I'm not that observant," Dick said, looking away from her into the air before grinning "So, do you think you're feeling better?"

Zatanna smiled at him and intertwined her fingers with his. He kissed her knuckles and she sighed with appreciation of the simple romantic act. But she could see the truth behind his grin.

"Dick... are you okay?" Zatanna asked "I can see you're lying about how you're doing... tell me,"

Dick looked at her and his fake smile dropped. He curled up and wrapped his arms around his knees. His shoulders began to shake and he looked up at her with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"The doctors said I'm in the final stretch..." he sobbed.

"Final stretch?" Zatanna wondered "Oh... no... you don't mean?"

"Yeah... everything that goes wrong as of now won't get better..." Dick said "I never really processed it but... I'm dying... I have less than three months to live... I'm not gonna... I'm not gonna live to be 17..."

Zatanna reached out and took his hand. They looked at each other and Dick hugged her. She hugged him back and gently rubbed his back. She would've said everything would have been okay but... it wasn't. Dick would be dead within the next three months and there was no way to avoid that fact.

* * *

**In the beginning, Zatanna was thought to be the one to die and Dick the one to live. But the tables have turned with Zatanna going into remission and Dick on his death bed.**


	28. Chapter 27: Chocolate!

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 2 months.**

**Zatanna: no more deadline for her!**

**Dick and Zatanna have been dating for 3 months.**

**_My heart aches as the countdown goes down..._**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 27:

Chocolate!

Dick had become a permanent resident in the ICU. He rarely left and when he did, he sat in a wheelchair. His wheelchair was one of the modern ultra streamline models that were motorized so all he had to do was push a joystick. After a harsh seizure, Dick's hands began to tremble whenever he tried to do something as simple as holding a pencil. His memory lapses were getting worse and fatigue had stripped away his optimism.

Zatanna, on the other hand, was in the fast lane to recovery. Her fake leg had come and, with trouser legs over it, you couldn't tell it was prosthetic. She even got a special cage that clipped around the metal leg to fill out things such as tights. Dr. Hol had judged that it would take a while until Zatanna could walk again but she should be able to walk within a year or so.

Zatanna had become the positive one in her relationship with Dick. She visited him everyday, even if she spent the time reading to him while he slept. Dick said he liked listening to her read to him and she liked reading to him. It was early October and leaves were falling from the trees and Zatanna took to reading him mystery novels.

"Chapter 22: The Danger in the Dungeon," she read "CeCe wasn't too sure of the situation fate had presented her with as she-"

"I'm sorry," Dick suddenly interrupted her.

"What? What are you sorry for?" Zatanna asked him.

"This is no way to spend a 3 month anniversary... you, reading to me as I die," he groaned.

"Oh, Dick, everything's fine. I love reading to you, sweetheart," she said, reaching out and taking his hand.

Dick looked at her when pressure in his brain made him hide himself under the covers from all the noise. Zatanna did what she always did when he got a migraine. She gave him his earplugs, got a fresh glass of nice cold water and an aspirin. With his earplugs in, Dick stuck his head out from under his blanket and she held him as the pressure built-up.

Steadily, he leaned back and took his earplugs out. With his shaking hands, he took the aspirin and swallowed it with the glass of water. Dick began shivering and Zatanna gave him a blanket to go around his shoulders. He curled up in it as he tried to warm himself up. He suddenly sat up and grabbed his girlfriend's shoulders.

"I don't want to spend my last two months in a hospital bed! I want to do something! So, please, Zatanna... I've kidnapped you, now I'm asking you to kidnap me!" Dick said "I'm going stir crazy, babe!"

"Did you just call me 'babe'?" Zatanna asked him, giggling "Alright, I'll kidnap you but I can't help you into your wheelchair, though,"

"It's okay... I've got just enough strength to do that," he said.

Dick got to his feet and shakily managed, with support, to walk over to his wheelchair and sit down in it. He sighed with relief of sitting down and put his bare feet on the pedals. He wore basic black jogging bottoms and a white t-shirt that hung on his narrow build.

"Let's go, Little Birdie!" Zatanna declared "You're coming with me!"

Dick pushed the joystick forward gently to move only so fast. He kept the door open for his girlfriend before going out himself.

* * *

Normally motorized wheelchairs were pretty big and somewhat clunky but Dick's wheelchair motor was compact and fit under the seat. Zatanna was somewhat jealous of it but, since she was going to be trading up to a walker or crutches, it didn't matter.

"So, where are we going?" Dick asked her "I'm the kidnap victim this time around so you get to pick our destination,"

"Hmm... how about we... um... I have no idea," Zatanna said, sheepishly "To be honest, I enjoyed our walks around the hospital before I broke my legs. It was nice just to talk with each other, you know?"

Dick reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know. Sometimes a good talk is all someone needs," he said "So, what would you like to talk about?"

"Uhh... nice weather we're having?" Zatanna said, sheepishly phrasing it as a question "I'm not too good at planned conversation,"

Dick found himself laughing at her embarrassment before reaching down and giving her a kiss. Then he remembered something...

"Ooh! I know what to do! I got you something and hid it in my old room! Since it's especially reserved for me, no one could have moved in so it should still be as I left it!" he exclaimed "Follow me, my dearest girlfriend,"

* * *

When they entered his old room, Dick rolled over to the bedside table and opened the draw. He reached in and took out a red velvet box in the shape of a heart. He pushed his joystick back to go back to her.

"They don't expire for a month and it's only been two weeks so..." Dick said "I got them for you to eat when you came out of surgery since you couldn't eat for twelve hours leading up to it,"

"Chocolate! Yummy! Gimme!" Zatanna playfully demanded.

Dick handed them over and she opened the lid to see the delicate chocolates inside. She took the card that told them what flavour each one was and they began munching on them. Zatanna picked a caramel one with a white chocolate stripe and her tastebuds were instantly taken to heaven. Dick took a crunchy orange one and hummed at how delicious it was.

"These chocolates aren't quite as sweet as you, sweetheart," he said.

Zatanna blushed before playfully punching his arm for being so cheesy.

"Considering how cheesy and romantic you are, I'm surprised you didn't give me a heart-shaped box of chocolates sooner," she laughed.

Dick smiled at her before slumping over in fatigue.

"Zee... I'm feeling..." he gasped "Can we... go back... to my room?"

"Yeah, of course, Dickie-bird," she said.

Zatanna closed the box of chocolate and took Dick's arm as they wheeled out of his old room.

* * *

_...The next day..._

When Zatanna opened her eyes that morning, she was met by the sight of a dozen roses on her bedside table. She smiled as she sat up and picked the bouquet up to sniff. Happily, she saw a letter within the flowers and took it out to read. What she read terrified her...


	29. Chapter 28: Two Letters

**CLIMAX!**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 28:

Two Letters

_...The next day..._

When Zatanna opened her eyes that morning, she was met by the sight of a dozen roses on her bedside table. She smiled as she sat up and picked the bouquet up to sniff. Happily, she saw a letter within the flowers and took it out to read. What she read terrified her:

_Dear Zatanna,_

_Over the past few months you've made me so happy. __Now you're in remission and I can't help but feel like the memory of me will only cause you pain. So, I decided to do something drastic. I'm going into surgery to have my tumors removed. If it kills me, well, I only had two months left anyway. But, it could save my life and if I live then you won't be burdened with the memory of my death. I'm going into surgery at 9 a.m. but I just wanted to tell you something..._

_I love you, Zatanna Zatara, and I have since we first met._

_With love,_

_Your Dickie-bird_

_XOXO_

Stunned, Zatanna dropped the roses and they fell to the floor. They say being willing to die for something was the ultimate act of loyalty and love but it wasn't... being willing to live was. Dick was willing to live just so she wouldn't be burdened with his death. Zatanna thought back to the day she first met him and remembered how he had said surgery was too dangerous. He had put that the surgery was to commence at 9 a.m. but one look at the clock told her it was only 8:54.

"Diana!" Zatanna yelled, frantically pushing the nurse alert button "Diana!"

She had to see Dick before the operation. She had to tell him she loved him too! She had to... she loved him. Hurriedly, Zatanna pulled on her prostetic leg and tried to shift herself into her wheelchair. When Diana entered, she frantically asked what was happening but all Zatanna said was...

"I've got to see Dick!"

* * *

Dick lay back in his bed as they took him to the operating theater. They'd removed all hair on his head and all he had on top was his beanie. His stomach was doing backflips but not because he was about to go into brain surgery. It was because he left his girlfriend a letter telling her he loved her.

"Dickie-bird!"

He looked up to see Zatanna coming his way at high speed. She was pushing her wheelchair along so fast that the wheels were giving her burns on her fingertips. Diana was lagging far behind. Zatanna came to a crash/stop by Dick's bed and she grabbed his arm.

"Dick..." she sobbed and took his hand "I love you too!"

Dick leaned out of bed and hugged her. Zatanna threw her arms around him and cried.

"I love you, Zatanna," he said, rubbing her back "Everything's going to be okay... I promise,"

"You promise?" Zatanna whimpered.

Dick kissed her and she kissed back. They wrapped their arms around each other the best they could at that angle and held onto each other. Sadly, they had to let go and Zatanna sat in her chair, helpless, as her boyfriend was taken into surgery.

* * *

Zatanna didn't speak for the rest of the day. Her heart ached for her boyfriend. She was laying in bed that evening when Diana entered with a bouquet of asters.

"These were at the front desk for you," Diana said, quietly but got no response "The delivery man said they're from a Richard Grayson the 2nd?"

Zatanna instantly sat up and took the bouquet of flowers from her nurse. Within the daisies was a letter timestamped for earlier that morning. She sniffed the red-and-yellow asters before opening the letter.

_ Dear Zatanna,_

_If you're reading this then I'm still in surgery. I want to tell you that things may not have worked out this way but fate made it so. When I was 14 and had my first tumor, the doctors did an MRI to take a look. On the image there was an anomaly but they didn't look into it. That anomaly was a second tumor that, had they removed back then, would have prevented my relapse and I wouldn't have spent my adolescence in hospital. But that also meant I wouldn't have met you and I wouldn't trade our time together for anything in the world, not even for a miracle cure._

_Remember to live your life, Zatanna._

_With love,_

_Dick_

Zatanna held the latter in her hand and she sobbed. She curled up into a ball and cried, tears running down her face. She couldn't help but rock as she either cried into her knees or threw her head back. The last time she felt so miserable was when her mother died...


	30. Chapter 29: Aftermath

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 3 weeks.**

_** No! The time's going by too fast!**_

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 29:

Aftermath

_...5 weeks later..._

The surgery... was a technical success... Dick had two tumors in his brain but now... they were gone. But that didn't mean it worked out as planned. Something had happened during the surgery and, to save brain function, they had put Dick in a medically induced coma. He'd been comatose for five weeks, which was considered a severe coma.

It was now November and Zatanna spent most of the time reading to Dick. Comas weren't like in the movies, people didn't just "wake-up" as if they were just asleep. Rather their awareness of everything around them changed. Sometimes coma patients could gain enough awareness to open their eyes or even speak but they would often lose that awareness.

"Hey, Dickie," Zatanna said as she wheeled into the ICU "I've got a new book to read. I hope you like it,"

She looked at him with hope but he remained the same. He was pale with bandages around his head from the surgery and there were dark rings around his eyes. He was connected to IV drips, a heart monitor and a machine to measure his brain waves to make sure he wasn't brain dead. Zatanna took his hand and gently squeezed. Holding back tears, she let go and opened the book.

"There comes a time when one must ask 'what do I wish to be?' and for me, the answer was always to be a great adventurer," she read "Others of my age wanted to be a doctor or a police officer but I always dreamed of leading a grand expedition through the Sahara or deep into the jungles of India,"

Zatanna read on and on before reaching the end of the chapter. She put the bookmark in and closed it before putting it on the bedside table. She wished Dick would open his eyes and hold her but he didn't. Zatanna sighed and reached out to take his hand. Her breath shaked as she wished he'd squeeze her hand back. Dick's hand suddenly flew from her hand as he jerked around and the heart monitor went haywire. Doctors rushed in and a nurse urgently pushed Zatanna out

* * *

Zatanna rolled around the hospital with a melancholy air about her. She actually wore a pretty cute outfit that consisted of a dark purplish-blue wool/fleece dress that was designed like an oversized hooded jumper, grey tights and knee high black boots. She had the caging around her metal leg to fill out her tights' leg. There was a buzz in her dress pocket and she pulled out her phone, checking the caller ID before answering.

"Hello... April..." Zatanna said, groaning.

**"Zatanna! You actually answered for once! Listen, superstar, I got word you're in Gotham City and now, so am I! Let's do lunch and talk about getting your career back on track," **April said **"Carrie's Café? In half an hour? Alright, reservation's made. See you there, superstar!"**

Zatanna gritted her teeth as April hung up on her. She couldn't believe April was still trying to get her back on the Italian tennis team. Oh, she'd go to that meeting... and she'd say in no uncertain terms that she quit! Zatanna headed in the direction of her room to get her satchel and try to convince Diana to drive her (she may have been 17 but she didn't have a driver's license yet).

* * *

April Williams had long chestnut red hair and chocolate brown eyes. She had a deep tan from spending so much time in Italy. She was dressed in a scarlet business suit and held a designer bag. April sat in one of the booths of the high-classed Carrie's Café as she sipped her wheatgrass juice. Zatanna came through the door and sighed with irritation at the sight of her former tennis coach. She took a deep breath to pluck up the urge and she rolled over to her.

"Hello, April," she said, approaching her.

"Zatanna? What happened? You're blonde and in a wheelchair?" April said, confused.

"April! I've got stage II Osteosarcoma!" Zatanna said "All I'm here to do is say... I QUIT! I'm in a wheelchair, so I can't play tennis! Even if I regain my ability to walk... I can't play on your team anymore,"

"Come on, superstar, it can't be that bad," April chuckled.

"April! You're an idiot!" Zatanna yelled "Come with me!"

Zatanna grabbed April's wrist and pulled her to her feet. She led her former coach out of the restaurant and back into the van Diana was waiting in.

* * *

"Where are we?" April asked.

"St. Agnes Memorial Hospital," said Zatanna as Diana pushed her into the hospital entrance "This is where I've been staying for my treatments,"

April watched as Zatanna led her through the wards of patients suffering from an array of illnesses. They came to Zatanna's room where she removed her boots and pulled her tights down (thankfully she wore underwear underneath them) to reveal her prosthetic leg. April dropped her bag at the sight of the metal cage and took a step back when Zatanna removed her wig.

"April... over a regimen of five weeks, I go through a treatment that fills me up with drugs I can't even name! It makes me lose my hair, vomit, bleed, ache, have no appetite, need blood transfusions and so many more side-effects that makes me feel like a piece of crap!" Zatanna yelled at her "I get given seven months to live but miraculously my bone tumors start going down! But my lower right leg is still infested with cancer so they had to amputate it! YOU THINK BONE CANCER ISN'T THAT BAD?! MY MOTHER DIED WHEN I WAS 5-YEARS-OLD FROM IT!"

April gulped as she felt nauseous. She had always thought the effects of cancer were exaggerated... that it wasn't as bad as everyone said... but it was.

"If you're still not convinced... follow me," Zatanna said, tears in her eyes.

She pulled her tights back into position and pulled her boots on. April followed her out of her room and she became even more on edge when Zatanna led her into the ICU. Zatanna took her into a room with a 16-year-old boy in a coma.

"Zatanna... who is this?" April asked.

"This... is my boyfriend. I love him so much... and he loved me so much that he went into a dangerous surgery to have his brain tumors removed. Something went wrong after they were removed and the doctors put him into a medically induced coma to preserve brain function... He's been like this for five weeks and has started suffering from cardiac arrest. The doctors gave him hypothermia to help with that..." Zatanna explained, tearfully taking her boyfriend's hand.

April looked at her with sadness and finally... AFTER TWO FREAKING YEARS... understood that Zatanna _ wasn't _ coming back to play tennis.


	31. Chapter 30: Response

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 2 weeks.**

_**Time! Stop passing!**_

* * *

**30 FREAKING CHAPTERS?! I was NOT expecting that much!**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 30:

Response

Zatanna brushed her hand over Dick's head since his hair was beginning to regrow from it being shaved 6 weeks ago. She pulled his beanie back into place before sitting back in her wheelchair. She smiled as she tried to keep her sobs back but she couldn't. Zatanna let out a cry and buried her head into the covers of his bed. Her shoulders shook as she cried and she took Dick's hand in hers. Then a miracle happened...

"D...n't... c...ry..."

Zatanna's eyes snapped open and she looked at Dick. He looked the exact same as before. Suddenly, she felt his fingers tighten around hers.

"N...o... m...o...re te...rs..." his voice said, passing over his lips.

Zatanna gasped as her heart pounded. Dick was regaining awareness! That had to be a good sign!

"Dickie-bird? Can you hear me? Dickie-bird?!" Zatanna cried.

Dick's lower lip trembled but his mouth closed and his grip on her hand loosened. She felt like someone had wripped out her heart. Tears were about to spill but she screwed her eyes shut and shook her head. Like Dick had said... no more tears.

"I hear you, Bird-Brain, no more tears," Zatanna said, wiping hers away.

* * *

Dr. Shayera Hol was trying to help Zatanna relearn to walk but the patient wasn't interested. She couldn't help but think about Dick, laying in bed without anyone there. She was waiting at the end of a two-railing set up.

"Zatanna!" Dr. Hol exclaimed to get her attention.

"Sorry, Dr. Hol, I was... thinking about Dick..." Zatanna sighed "Okay, I want to get walking again! I want to take part in a charity run for cancer research so that means I've got to walk..."

She was wearing an ordinary white t-shirt with a blue wave across the edges and grey jogging bottoms with blue stripes up the sides. Zatanna was barefoot with just the fake leg without the caging. She reached up and took hold of the ends of the two railings.

"Okay... I can do it... I can stand up..." she told herself "I want to take part in a charity run for cancer research so... I've got to walk..."

With as much strength as she could, Zatanna pulled herself up as much as she could. She had made sure she had kept her arm muscles strong enough to pull her up, it was her leg muscles that was the problem. She was pushing herself just above the ground so her feet weren't all on the ground. Steadily, Zatanna lowered her weight and held her breath at the strange feel of her prosthetic leg under her real leg. She mustered up as much strength as possible and moved her real foot forward.

"I can do this..." she muttered to herself.

Zatanna put weight on her foot and felt a pang of searing pain. She gasped in air and stumbled back into her chair. She held her leg in pain before pulling her dressing gown around herself and she left the room to visit Dick.

* * *

When she was heading towards the door to his room, Zatanna saw his parents and Dr. Jones talking with each other through the window. She hurriedly entered and Mr. and Mrs. Wayne jumped in surprise. Selina got up and hugged her son's girlfriend.

"Zatanna... they've found what went wrong with Dick's surgery," she said.

"Really? What happened?" Zatanna asked, looking at Dr. Jones.

Dr. Jones was showing them scans of Dick's brain on a "light board" and he pointed at Dick's brain stem.

"You see this... blur... around his brain stem?" Dr. Jones asked "It's a third tumor and it was aggravated when we operated,"

Zatanna held her breath and wheeled herself over to Dick's bedside. There was a third tumor in his brain and it was in the worst place possible... his brain stem. His brain held his very personality but the brain _stem _was what made his body function. If that went then he'd go into a vegetative state.

"So... What are you going to do?" Zatanna asked, trying to keep her composure.

"This final tumor will kill him within the next two weeks he was given unless we do something," Dr. Jones explained "Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, he's your son. What do you wish to do?"

Zatanna looked at Dick and took his hand. Then an idea came to her.

"Why don't you just ask him?" she asked them.

* * *

Dick was placed in a sealed capsule in an observation room. He had a net of sensors over his head to check his brain activity. On the other side of the window, Zatanna and co. were in the observation room. Zatanna, the only one to get a response from Dick, was going to be the one asking him. She pressed the "on" button on the microphone before speaking.

"Hello, Dickie-bird. It's me, Zatanna. I'm going to ask you some questions on behalf of the doctors. To answer yes, think of throwing a ball. To answer no, think of singing happy birthday. Okay?" Zatanna asked.

Her voice went through the speakers and into the capsule. They looked to the computer screen with Dick's live brain scan. Steadily, the part of the brain that was used for motion lit up to answer "yes". Everyone cheered with success but Zatanna still had to all about the third tumor.

"Dick, you've got another tumor on your brain stem. Your surgery provoked it which caused the complications that landed you in a coma. Do you understand?" she asked.

Again, the part of the brain for motion lit up.

"We need to know if you want to go into surgery to have it removed. It's highly dangerous. Do you understand?" she asked.

The same part of his brain lit up.

"Do you want to have the surgery to remove it?" Zatanna asked him.

Everything went silent. It was presumably because Dick was thinking about it. Then the part of his brain for motion lit up. Zatanna held her breath. He was willing to go through another risky surgery. Then something new happened. The part of his brain that comprehended love lit up like a candle. They didn't know for sure but Zatanna blushed at the thought that Dick was thinking of her.


	32. Chapter 31: The Most Dangerous of Risks

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 1 week and 5 days.**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 31:

The Most Dangerous of Risks

Zatanna was in a state of worry as the time for Dick's second brain surgery occurred. She remained curled up in her room as she waited for news on his condition. She lay on her bed with her knees to her chest and tears about to spill. Sighing, she looked over at the rose Dick had given her and at the petals that had falled off since then. The fallen petals were scattered across the windowsill and hadn't been brushed away because Zatanna enjoyed drawing them. Dick had been the one to get her back into drawing and since then she'd done countless pieces all in pursuit of putting the image in her head onto paper.

"Oh... Dick... you fill my heart so much with love..." she sighed as she sat up "When you're better I'll make sure you're filled with love as much as I am..."

But there was a hard truth. With the tampering to Dick's brain, he might not wake-up as the boy she fell in love with. He may have become a whole new person in his mind. A person that didn't love her... Zatanna shook her head and looked down at her rose quartz bracelet. Dick had said the chain was merely gold plated but she had recently found out that it wasn't... it was real gold and the bracelet was worth just under $900. That was Dick for you, he told just what you thought you wanted to hear... then called you out on what you needed to hear.

"You'll make it, Dickie, I know you will..." Zatanna said, smiling at the picture of them on her satchel.

* * *

She was allowed to see Dick before the surgery commenced so she sat in her wheelchair next to his bed. She reached out her hand and took his hand, gently squeezing. Zatanna smiled at him and sniffed as tears came to her eyes.

"You're about to go into surgery, Dick. But, I'll be right here when you come out. I promise," she said, tearfully.

Dick's limp fingers gently squeezed her hand back and Zatanna looked up at him. She smiled at him again and patted his hand. Inside there, he was fighting. No doubt about it... Dick was still in there.

Zatanna rolled herself back for the nurses to roll Dick off to surgery. She took a deep breath and rolled out of the ICU. She rolled away from it all and just let herself roll every which way. The thought of staying in one place waiting for news about Dick's condition... it was torturous to her. Zatanna found herself in the hospital entrance and she looked around at all the people. They didn't know that a 16-year-old boy was undergoing extremely dangerous brain surgery at that very moment.

Zatanna rolled herself into the gift shop and looked around. She wasn't seeking to buy anything, she was just trying to distract herself. She rolled by the counter and saw robin keychains hanging on a stand. The hospital was starting to sell Christmas themed items because the next month was December but Zatanna didn't see that. All she thought about December was that the 1st was Dick's 17th birthday. Smiling at the little robins, she took out her wallet and bought two.

Happily, she put one on the keyring on her satchel's strap but then looked at the second one she had bought. What was she going to do with it? Zatanna looked away from it to see Dick's family sitting at a café table. She could see little Helena was stuffing her face with ice-cream because she was upset about Dick. Zatanna looked at her extra robin keychain before rolling herself over.

"Hey, Helena, good ice-cream?" she asked.

Helena looked up at Zatanna and sniffed.

"I miss my big brother," she said, pouting.

Zatanna looked down at her before pulling the little girl off her seat and into her lap. Then she opened her clenched fist to let the robin keychain fall with its ring around her finger.

"See this? It's a robin. Now, your big brother loves birds. You ever notice that? He's particularly keen on robins like this one," Zatanna explained to her "Now, what I want you to do is think of your happiest memory of Dickie and hold this robin to your heart. Can you do that?"

Helena nodded and took the keychain. She squeezed it in her hands, held it to her heart and squeezed her eyes shut as she thought of her big brother. She opened her eyes and looked at the keychain in her hands as if she expected it to come to life. Zatanna reached into her satchel and took out a thin red ribbon she had kept because it was pretty with gold sparkles. She threaded the ribbon through the keychain's ring before moving Helena's hair out of the way.

"Now, whenever you look at this robin, you'll think of your big brother," Zatanna said as she tied a neat bow behind her neck and doing a knot to keep the keychain in place "You see? This little robin will remind you of our big robin,"

Helena looked at the makeshift necklace her brother's girlfriend had just made her and thought about when Dick treated her to ice-cream and she got brain freeze. She smiled and held the necklace close before turning around and hugging Zatanna.

"Thank you, Zee-Zee, you're gonna make a good wife for my brother one day," Helena said.

Zatanna blushed at the thought of marrying Dick when she was older but hugged his little sister back. Helena smiled at her before hopping off her lap to show her parents her new necklace. Satisfied about the extra robin she had was being put to good use, Zatanna wheeled away from them and headed for her room.

* * *

They may have only known each other for about 5 months and had been dating for 4 of them but Zatanna couldn't think of how she could have survived this long without him. She felt like her life was over when she was diagnosed with bone cancer two years ago but it wasn't. Dick had showed her how to live again and Zatanna would never forgot what he did for her.

She looked at a photo album they'd filled with pictures of themselves over those past few months. They made her cry but she was happy to have had the time she got with Dick. In conclusion, if Dick were to die in surgery, Zatanna would remember him for his life and not his death.

She undid the straps around her fake knee before unscrewing her fake leg from it. Most of the time, fake legs were slid on but, since she also had a fake knee, hers screwed in and was kept from unscrewing on its own with straps around her thigh. Zatanna put her prosthetic leg aside, pulled herself into bed and she crawled under the covers. She took the remote for the lights and turned them off before snuggling down to sleep...


	33. Chapter 32: Come Back to Me

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 1 week and 4 days.**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 32:

Come Back to Me

"No-o... Di-ick... Don't- don't leave me... no-o..." Zatanna moaned in her sleep "No... NO!"

She sat up in a cold sweat and panted. It was a dream... just a dream... but the thought of it happening terrified her. What if Dick didn't survive? What if he did but woke-up as a whole new person? All these "what if"s were scaring her out of sleeping. Needing a change of scenery, Zatanna pulled on her dressing gown and managed to slide herself into her wheelchair.

She rolled out of her room and down the hallway, gently pushing the wheels. All she could think about was her boyfriend. Brain surgery was a delicate process, it couldn't be rushed but that didn't mean Zatanna wasn't worried that it was taking so long. Unknowingly, she found herself in the surgical ward where people were having things put in, taken out and put back together. She didn't enjoy the sight of doctors in scrubs splattered with blood and the nurses pushing medication around in medical trolleys.

Seeing all of this, Zatanna rolled back and turned around to escape the silence of the surgical ward. She headed down the hallways and tears began to form in her eyes. She screwed her eyes shut to prevent them from spilling but, when she opened them, she realized she had rolled herself to Dick's old room. With a steady hand, Zatanna pushed the door open and rolled in. Everything was as it was a few months earlier. She half expected Dick to come walking in on his hands.

"Dick... why?" Zatanna whispered "Why'd you have to go have such a dangerous surgery? Why?"

**"Voice recognition: match. Zatanna Zatara: girlfriend. Authorization: allowed,"**

She looked up at the sound of the computerized voice and looked around for its source. She saw a light in the bedside table and rolled herself over to it. When the draw was opened, it revealed a computer tablet with a video yet to be played on its screen. With trembling hands, Zatanna took it out of the draw and tapped the screen to press play.

An image of Dick sitting in his hospital bed appeared. The timestamp said the video was recorded the day they met.

**"Video Diary entry number #227. Commence! Today, I met this beautiful girl but I didn't get her name. We were both at Leslie's radiotherapy clinic when our IV's collided and I ended up on the floor. She was in a wheelchair and I could tell she was wearing a wig, a pretty cheap one too, but I thought she was perfect,"**

**"Video Diary entry number #228. Commence! Fate is on my side because that beautiful girl from before is staying here, at St. Agnes'! I found out her name is Zatanna Zatara, sounds familiar so maybe I'll look her up. No matter, I still want this rare beauty in my life,"**

Zatanna continued to watch his video entries as they continued to play one after another. Some made her laugh, others made her cry and some just made her smile. She looked at the timestamp as another one started. It said the day before his first operation.

**"Zatanna, if you're watching this then you went into my old room either during or after my surgery and for whatever reason I'm not with you. Maybe I'm in a coma, maybe I'm a whole new person or maybe I'm dead. Doesn't matter. What I want to say is that I love you, Zee, and because of that, I want you to have the best life possible. When my biological family died, I inherited their money, $50'000, and a life insurance policy of $2'000'000 was cashed in but I don't have access to that until my 18th birthday. Since I might not live to be 18, I want you to have all of it to pay for... Well... whatever you think necessary. Pay for private school, buy a nice big house for your family or pay off your medical bill. I also want to leave you _my_ life insurance policy that, when cashed in, will give you another $3'000'000. In short, I'm leaving you $50'50'000 big ones. I'm sorry if I'm not there to be with you, Zatanna, but know that I will always love you,"**

Zatanna dropped the tablet onto her lap in shock. Did she just watch a video will? Once more, did Dick just leave her over 5-MILLION DOLLARS?! She couldn't believe he had done that... but she didn't care about the money, all she cared about was him. With tears in her eyes, Zatanna picked the tablet back up and held it to her.

"Dick... I don't care about the money... I just want you..." she cried "Come back to me... please..."


	34. Chapter 33: You There?

**Time to Live:**

**Dick: 1 week and 4 days.**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 33:

You There?

Zatanna was overjoyed when she heard Dick was finally out of surgery. He was still in a coma but the doctors said there was nothing wrong with his brain anymore. Then why he was still unaware of everything, she didn't know. Zatanna rolled along the hallway at high speed to see her boyfriend upon gaining permission to see him. She slowed herself down as she neared and looked through the window into his room. There were some get-well-soon cards, some flowers and even get-well-soon balloons tied to the end of his bed. Bruce and Selina were asleep on the tiny two person sofa with Helena sprawled out on their laps. No wonder, they'd been awake since Dick went into surgery.

Zatanna entered and went up to Dick's bed. She took his limp hand in hers and, with tears in her eyes, looked at him. He had even more bandages wrapped around his head now and he was somehow even paler. Zatanna just leaned against the frame of his bed as she held his hand. She smiled at him and rested her head on her arm against the bed frame. She was exhausted from her lack of sleep and her eyes began to close...

But they were instantly opened when she felt Dick's fingers curl around hers. Zatanna looked at him with hope, leaning over as much as she could. His face twitched and, oh joy, his eyes lazily opened and his head lolled to be looking at her. She gasped at the sight of him opening his eyes.

"D... Dick? You... you there?" Zatanna stammered.

Dick's jaw dropped as his mouth opened barely an inch to try to talk. He remained frozen like that until his mouth closed and his grip on her hand weakened.

"Dick? Dick!" Zatanna exclaimed, desperate for him to make a full recovery.

Dick's head lolled back into place and his eyes closed. It was heart-wrenching for her but she focused on the fact it was proof he was still in there. Then she collapsed from leaning out of her wheelchair too far. Zatanna landed flat on her face with the heel of her prosthetic leg hitting the bedside table. This awoke the family asleep on the tiny sofa.

* * *

Dr. Hol thought it would be better if Zatanna got encouragement from other staff and patients to walk. To accomplish this, the duel railings were put in the entrance. She sat in her wheelchair at the end of them and took hold of the ends. Zatanna took a deep breath and pulled herself up. The people encouraging her cheered as she stood. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as she steadily slid her actual foot forward. It had been so long since she had walked...

"Hey! You girl! You're Dick Grayson's girlfriend, right?!"

Zatanna lost her concentration and fell to the floor with a thud. She looked up as she tried to push herself to her knees and recognized the person who had yelled at her. He had a beard, baseball cap and sunglasses but she recognized him as the reporter that was threatened never to come back. Zatanna huffed and she dragged herself to her wheelchair. The reporter approached her as she clambered into her wheelchair and she glared at him.

"What's happening with your boyfriend? He's gone poof," the reporter said.

"Do I have to break your wrist?! I recognize you, you numbskull," Zatanna hissed "And you're banned from coming here unless your health is threatened! GET OUT!"

"Whoa, chill out, Princess, I'm just gonna ask some questions so just smile and answer," he said.

"You think I'm just Dick Grayson's airhead girlfriend, don't you? Well..." Zatanna whipped out her combat baton and smashed the reporter's recorder right out of his hand "I'M NOT! I can think for myself and me and Dick are best friends as well as a couple. Now, for the millionth time, GET LOST!"

Zatanna, in a humph, rolled away from him and headed through the corridors of St. Agnes Memorial Hospital... she didn't realize that reporter was following her.

* * *

Zatanna positioned herself at Dick's bedside and got to reading to him. He had had a total of THREE brain surgeries in his short life and so much done to him. No one should have to endure that but life wasn't fair like that... if it was, her boyfriend wouldn't be dying on her. Zatanna took Dick's hand as always and just watched him, letting him know she was there.

She didn't realize the reporter was watching from outside of the window...

* * *

The next day, reporters and journalists all swarmed at St. Agnes' when it hit the news that Dick Grayson was in a coma. Zatanna felt awful for leading that reporter to Dick and spent that day hidden under her blankets. She had bothered to get dressed in her favourite dress, the blueish/purple one designed like an oversized hooded jumper, and pulled on some loose black skinny-jeans.

"Zatanna... it wasn't your fault. You didn't know that guy was following you..." Diana said, trying to be comforting to the young girl.

"But now Mr. and Mrs. Wayne are taking out the whole top floor of the Tribel Hotel and setting it up as a hospital room to keep Dick in... and after what I did, I doubt they'll let me see him!" Zatanna cried.

"Zatanna! It's Dick's job to be ridiculous, not yours!"

Zatanna looked out from under her blankets to see Selina Kyle-Wayne had entered her room.

"M-Mrs. Kyle-Wayne, I thought you were taking Dick to the Tribel?" she stammered.

"I am. I came to get you. Of course you're going to get to see Dick. You're his girlfriend and he loves you," Selina declared "Now, come on. You're accompanying Dick on the move to the hotel,"

Zatanna looked at Selina and smiled with tears in her eyes. She smiled before sitting up and she slid into her wheelchair.


	35. Chapter 34: Miracles Do Happen

**THIS STORY IS CRAZY LONG! **

* * *

** Time to Live:**

**Dick: 5 days**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 34:

Miracles Do Happen

Over those past few days, Zatanna had gone to the Tribel to visit her comatose boyfriend. It was strange going to a hotel floor with no one else around but at least there wasn't any press to bother them. Heck, the media still thought Dick was at St. Agnes'! Bruce and Selina were staying in the unused rooms of the top floor with Helena and their family butler, Alfred, to be closer to their son.

The date was December 1st, a date doctors said Dick wouldn't live to see for one reason... it was his 17th birthday. Naturally, Zatanna went to be with him on this momentous occasion. She rolled herself down the softly-lit hallway and knocked on the presidential suite doors. A nurse let her in and Zatanna entered to see Dick laying in bed with medical devices all around him.

"Hey, Dickie? It's me, your girlfriend?" Zatanna quietly said as she rolled herself over to him "I came to see you and... wish you a happy birthday,"

As always, Dick was unresponsive but she took his hand anyway and remained by his side. So far, she was the only one who Dick had regained awareness around. Zatanna spent most of her time with him, either reading to him or just being there for him. What was really painful was that the original time Dick was given to live came to an end in only 5 days. The doctors said that without the tumors in his brain, he may live longer but, since he was in a coma, no one was really sure.

"So... you going to respond to my presence, Dickie-bird?" Zatanna asked him as she leaned against his bedside "Something small? A blink, a groan? Maybe even some hand movement, eh? I know you're still in there, sweetheart, and I know you're fighting,"

At that, Dick's hand suddenly moved onto hers. It made her jump but she didn't move and watched as Dick's fingers tightened around her hand. Zatanna, shocked, looked at him in the hopes that he'd open his eyes.

"Dick... you there? Can you... can you hear me?" she asked him.

Even the nurses stared as Dick steadily nodded his head. Everything erupted and nurses ran for doctors and Dick's family. Soon they were all crowded round to see him. Zatanna kept her grip on his hand and the doctors looked at his vitals.

"Dick... can you feel me?" she asked, gently moving his hand up to her cheek.

Again, he steadily nodded his head.

"Can you... can you smell me?" Zatanna asked, gently wafting her perfume-rubbed wrist over his nose.

Another steady nod and his toes began to move under the covers.

"Can you... look at me?" she asked, terrified that he'd suddenly go into cardiac arrest.

Dick's head lolled to be looking in her direction and his eyelids, ever so carefully, flickered open. He looked right into her eyes and Zatanna knew he was still in there.

"Can you..." she took a deep breath as tears began to form in her eyes "Can you... speak to me?"

Everything went silent as everyone there leaned in to listen. Dick's jaw dropped and his mouth opened. Taking in deep breath, he spoke...

"Yes..."

Everyone was overjoyed to hear this and the miraculous speech was accompanied by Dick moving his arms back and sitting himself up. Doctors looked at his vitals and were confounded by the data. Dick looked around at all the medical equipment and looked at his parents.

"What... happened?" he asked, his voice horse from not being used in about two months.

"You were in a coma from your brain surgery," Selina explained.

"Surgery? I... I thought... it was... too... dangerous?" Dick asked, his voice but a croak.

"Don't you remember? You said you didn't want your death to be a burden on Zatanna so you risked the surgery," Selina explained, sitting on the side of her son's bed.

Dick looked at her blankly before looking around the room.

"Where... are we?" he asked.

"The Tribel Hotel!" Zatanna exclaimed before Selina could speak "Dick... do you know who I am?"

He looked at her with a blank expression and confusion in his eyes. He seemed to be trying to remember and, in a way, he was but his mind was foggy.

"Z-Zee?" Dick said, the word on the tip of his tongue "Za-tan-na? My... girlfriend?"

Zatanna nodded with tears streaming down her face. Dick looked at her as things straightened themselves out in his mind. His face suddenly lit up and he leaned over the side of the bed to hug her. Zatanna nuzzled into him as she hugged him back.

"I love you," Dick's croaky voice said into her ear.

"I love you too," Zatanna whimpered as the tears spilled over.

She was so relieved he was awake but was worried about what would happen next. Had they done it? Had they beaten two deadly conditions? Had they defied the odds and survived?

* * *

** So, there's going to be one more chapter to make it a straight 35 then one of my oh-so-famous epilogues. But, I also have a surprise for you all so sit tight, 'kay? :3**


	36. Chapter 35: Walking, Sweets and Revenge

**No more countdown to death! WOOHOO!**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 35:

Walking, Sweets and Revenge

You can imagine the frenzy the media got into when it was revealed Dick Grayson had miraculously survived his coma. But it came with a cost... he could no longer write. He knew all the letters and numbers and etc in his head but his hands just didn't have the dexterity to hold a pencil anymore. He also didn't have quite the same passion for mathematics than before. But, since these were two minor parts of his life, Dick pretty much woke-up the same person as he was before.

He was a bit weak from it all so stuck to sitting back in an motorized wheelchair. His optimism and positivity were re-emerging but he remained a bit forgetful. Dick did have short-term amnesia, which was normal for coma patients, but that was only temporary and Dr. Lance was helping him along with remembering the bits and bobs he'd forgotten. There was one thing that hadn't changed... he was still in love with Zatanna. They spent nearly all of their time together, just talking or laughing or helping the other through basic check-ups.

There was just one more task... walking. Zatanna hadn't walked yet but the doctors said her bones were strong enough and her muscles were healthy. She stood at the end of the duel railings and supported herself against them. Dick was sitting in his motorized wheelchair at the end.

"C'mon, Zee! You can do it, babe!" he said.

"Did you just call me 'babe'?" Zatanna asked, smiling at him.

"I'll get you freshly made cookies if you do this!" Dick tempted her.

"Ooh! Now that's a goal!" she exclaimed.

Steadily, she slid her real foot forward and put pressure on it. She hissed but continued on by dragging her prosthetic leg up from behind her. Zatanna hissed in pain again but she successfully completed one step. Now came the really hard part; she moved what was left of her right leg forward and it moved the fake leg into a bent position at the knee joint. Awkwardly, Zatanna leaned forward and lowered her right leg so its prosthetic foot landed in front of her real one. With beads of sweat on her forehead, she put pressure on her prosthetic leg and screwed her face up in effort as she followed it up with moving her real one onwards.

"One more step, Zee, and you'll have done three! C'mon, you can do it!" Dick encouraged her.

Zatanna smiled at him and summoned the strength to put pressure on her real foot. She lifted her prosthetic leg up and moved it forward. She leaned onto it and hissed with pain before falling to her knees. Zatanna looked up at Dick and they smiled at each other.

"Three steps! Do I get cookies now?" she asked, panting.

Dick looked at her with shock before smiling at her and sliding out of his wheelchair. He crawled over to her and they smiled at each other.

* * *

Yes, Zatanna did get her cookies. She sat at the café table as she dunked her cookie into a glass of milk. She had quite the sweet tooth and she could be _very_ vicious if you kept her away from her treats (seriously, never get between her and her sweets). Dick was drinking a banana and mango smoothie as he watched her eat. He loved the glint in her eyes whenever she had deliciousness in her. The two of them were quite a strange pair but they were also the perfect match.

"So, we've punched death in the face. What now?" Dick asked.

"Well, I guess we should try to readjust to normal life," Zatanna said, slurping up the milk.

"Ah, but my life has never been normal," he said, pouting "So... are you going back to Italy?"

"Nah," said his girlfriend "Dad says it'll be best for us to stay in America,"

Dick couldn't help but be happy about that. They said long-distance relationships never worked out and he didn't feel ready to put their young love to that test. Zatanna looked at the relieved look on his face and she reached over to take his hand.

"I love you, babe," she said, smiling as she used the cliché pet name.

"I love you too," Dick said, putting his hand over hers "Now, let's go get revenge on that annoying reporter who's been messing with our lives. You know, the one that revealed I was in a coma,"

Zatanna grinned and nodded. They hated that reporter with a fiery passion and they had tracked down the idiot's name... G. Gordon Godfrey.

* * *

Godfrey was returning to his dressing room when the door slammed shut behind him. In the mirror of his dressing table was the reflection of two teenagers he wasn't too fond of. Both sat in their wheelchairs with a smug expression on their faces.

"Hello, G.G," Dick said "Harassed anyone's paraplegic girlfriend lately?"

"Grayson! What are you doing here? Get out!" Godfrey exclaimed.

"Sorry but we're here to hand this over to you," Zatanna said and she passed him a piece of paper "We hereby sue you for harassment,"

Godfrey looked at the document and laughed. He scrunched it up and ripped it several times before throwing the pieces at Dick.

"You've got to be kidding me! You two brats can't even drive yet! And you're trying to take me to court? No one would take you seriously! If anything, I should sue you for assault!" Godfrey laughed at them "Now, why don't you two take a lollipop and go home! Unless you want to give me an exclusive on your so-called miraculous recoveries,"

Dick and Zatanna looked at each other.

"Are you saying you really did harass Zatanna?" Dick asked "As in, Zatanna Zatara?"

"Ha! Sure. I, G. Gordon Godfrey, harassed Zatanna Zatara by grabbing her wheelchair and demanding she answer questions for me," Godfrey snickered "Good luck proving I just said that!"

Dick and Zatanna smiled and Zatanna took a camera out from under her wheelchair.

"We don't have to. It's all right here and don't bother trying to destroy the memory card. Dick here hacked into your dumb shows camera feed so anyone watching just saw you confess to harassment. Including our lawyer who's watching from her office," she said.

"That's entrapment!" Godfrey declared.

"We'll see you in court, G.G," said Dick as he held the door open for Zatanna to leave.

They left the reporter alone and held hands as they wheeled along. In truth, it wasn't quite over for Dick because he'd need to have radiotherapy to help prevent a relapse of his tumors. The doctors said that this time there was absolutely NO anomalies that could be another tumor so it was safe to say Dick was in the all clear.

Zatanna looked over at him and smiled. If it wasn't for him, she was pretty sure she wouldn't have had the strength to survive. He saved her life and she saved his. He never would have gone through with the surgeries without her. Sure, he was in a coma for a while but now he was cured. Dick came to a stop as they exited the T.V studio and Zatanna looked up at him. He reached down, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She melted against the side of her chair at the gentle passion he conveyed to her made her cheeks burn and her heart race.

"I love you, Zatanna Zatara," Dick said as he pulled away from her.

"I love you too, Richard John Grayson the 2nd," Zatanna said, dreamily looking up at him.

* * *

** There, an even 35 chapters. Next is the epilogue and then comes my surprise! YAY! Anyways, please review! Review and I'll... give you all cookies! Here...**

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**Does that look like cookies with four chocolate chips each?**


	37. Author's Note concerning the Sequel

**I am so so so so so so so soooooooooooooooo so so so so so so so SORRY! I had to delete As the Tide Changes. I thought back over it and found it really undermined its predecessor and the utter seriousness of these medical conditions. That's why I plan on writing a new sequel about their recovery and I'll change the epilogue to match. Again, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for this but it's my duty as a fanfiction writer/unpublished novelist to bring you the best that I can.**

**I'll see you in the next sequel.**

**-TheNotoriousNovelist ;p**

**P.S: I'll be keeping Dick's music career, Zatanna's modelling career and all my favourites in the new sequel. That includes Tim Drake joining the family!**


	38. Epilogue: New Year, Second Chance

**New epilogue to accompany the new sequel.**

* * *

As Rose Petals Fall

Epilogue:

New Year, Second Chance

_...December 31st, 2017 - January 1st, 2018..._

Hanging out in a VIP area at Times Square cuddling up to her significant other waiting for the New Year was Zatanna's idea of bliss. Dick looked up to watch the countdown to the Ball Drop. He may have been in a coma for 5 weeks but he was recovering fast. He'd regained the strength in his legs from not using them for over a month and his neglected voice was becoming stronger, even if he did sound a bit scratchy. Zatanna leaned her head against his shoulder and he put his arm around her. As the countdown reached 10 seconds, Dick put his arm under her knees and lifted her from her wheelchair bridal style.

"Dick? What are you-" but her voice was drowned out by the entire nation counting down.

_"Five, four, three, two, one... HAPPY NEW YEAR!"_

Zatanna turned to look at Dick and he instantly kissed her. She tensed up in surprise before relaxing in his arms and she took hold of his jacket to keep him close. The fireworks began shooting off into the air to celebrate the New Year and the two hesitantly pulled away from each other. Dick rested his forehead against hers and held her closer.

"I love you," he gently whispered to her.

"I love you too," Zatanna whispered back.

"This year is going to be great... I know it," he continued "You and me, we can do anything together..."

"Even heal?" she interrupted "The recovery's going to be hard, Dick, but I think I could do it... as long as I've got you to support me,"

"Yeah... as long as you'll support me in return," he agreed.

* * *

**New sequel is called "As Wounds Heal" so... check it out and have a cookie.**

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